Police say gunshot hit woman in foot City planners reject parking extension

Police said a man fired shots at four people Sunday in Jacksonville, hitting a woman in the foot, according to a Jacksonville Police report.

Anthony Carson, 26, fired three or four shots from a moped on Cross Street, victims reported. One of the bullets ricocheted and hit a woman’s foot, the report said. Medics treated her at the scene.

Another victim said she felt one of “the bullets go through her hair,” according to the police report.

After the shooting ended shortly before 7 p.m., Carson drove off on the moped, the report said. An officer later arrested him as he was driving on Block Ray Road, according to police.

Before the shooting, Carson had been in an argument with the group, the report said. Witnesses told police that Carson was angry that one of the men involved gave him and one of the women food.

Carson was charged with unlawfully discharging a firearm from a moving vehicle, a terroristic act, five counts of aggravated assault, first-degree criminal mischief, running a stop sign, driving with a suspended license, driving without a vehicle license and driving without proof of insurance.

FAYETTEVILLE — Parking is set to end at a private lot next to Fayetteville High School, but school administrators have a larger plan to make up for the spaces that will be lost.

The Planning Commission voted 4-3 to reject a permit to extend parking at South Buchanan and Stone Street for another school year. Commissioners in October granted property owners Charles and Alona Billingslea a permit to allow parking at the site until the end of this school year.

Planning staff recommended that the commission deny the permit because of the school district’s plan to build about 200 spaces, most of which will be ready before the fall semester begins. The lot at Buchanan and Stone provides parking to 17 students.

Charles Billingslea told commissioners he had gotten requests from parents to continue the parking.

“I suggest that the city grant one more year and see how it goes for the school in terms of additional parking,” he said. “If it turns out they don’t need this, well, I’m likely not going to get any parent asking me to park there.”

Planning Director Andrew Garner said the administrations for the city and the school district have been working on a solution to the parking crunch felt for years at the high school. The idea is to get the permitting for the new spaces approved quickly so work can begin in the summer, he said.

“We understand it’s a really tight time frame to get it done by the fall, but everybody’s on board with doing whatever we can to get it ready by fall,” Garner said.

In August, several property owners received letters from the city reminding them nonresidential parking isn’t allowed in a residential area without a permit from the Planning Commission. Planning staff received general complaints about off-site parking for students. As a result, property owners began asking the commission for the permit.

Commissioner Rob Sharp said parking has been allowed at the Buchanan and Stone property for years and allowing one more school year doesn’t seem like a high price to pay to ensure service continues. No neighbors have complained about the site, which shows the arrangement has been working, he said.

“It seems like a reasonable compromise,” Sharp said.