Albany Police Chief: Avoid violence by reducing large gatherings

Albany Police Chief attributes violence to large gatherings

Albany Police Chief attributes violence to large gatherings of people.

Albany Police continued to investigate a large shooting that injured six teens on the Fourth of July.

NewsChannel 13 caught up with Police Chief Eric Hawkins, who said that some of the violence stems from large parties.

“We’re seeing them at large gatherings – a number of large gatherings across the country and it was a large gathering that we saw in our city, and so what we’re asking is when we have these gatherings, keep them small, among people that we know,” he said.

Hawkins even suggested giving police a heads up if it is going to be a large gathering.

“When we have these pop-up type of gatherings, it’s very hard for law enforcement to monitor, and within minutes you can have hundreds of people, it’s very difficult to keep the public peace, and keep public safety,” he said.

All the teens injured in the shooting are expected to be OK.