Georgia Mayor Sticks to His Guns; Orders Park Fighters Shot
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WADLEY, Ga. — A small-town mayor who once ordered police to shoot to kill stray dogs and shoot to wound suspected burglars has now ordered them to “shoot to stop” anyone fighting in the city park.
“They are to shoot from the waist down only,” Mayor B. A. Johnson said after weekend fighting between youths in the rural community’s 12-acre park. “We’re going to fix it so decent people can go to the park.”
After a rash of burglaries in 1986, Johnson ordered the five-man police force to shoot to wound suspected burglars, but later rescinded the order.
In 1985, Johnson ordered police to shoot stray dogs on sight and offered a bounty of $3 a head.
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