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Gang Violence Forces Daycare Owner to Move Center

278 views · Published 26 March 2013 · 2:38 · Indexed 24 October 2026

Channel: WTVC NewsChannel 9 · 2013 · News & Politics

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By Jerry Askin  The owner of a Chattanooga daycare center has seen enough of gangs and crime on his street, and says now the center has to move. We're talking about the Kandy Kastle Daycare Center on Gillespie Avenue in the Eastdale area.This is a highly known area for the 'Crips', those are the ones who wear the red, that's what this place is known for, says Gerald Mason, the center's director. But, what's even more frustrating for him, the fatal shooting happened only feet away from the daycare center he owns off of Tunnel Boulevard in Eastdale.When it gets this close to home, you've got to get out of here, says Mason. Getting out of there, he says can't come soon enough.April 30th will be our last day here, says Mason. That's when he says they'll merge the daycare center with the one in Brainerd at Friendship Community Church. They first opened the center on Gillespie Avenue three years ago. It was an area he thought was a quiet and safe place for children. But, in the last two years, it's been a scare. There's been at least six shootings and at least three homicides probably in the last seven or eight months, says Mason.Mason says all of them were situations that proved uncomfortable for his staff, parents, and the children.Parents come pick up their children and they have to duck. One time parents were ducking behind cars, and it's just not a safe environment, says Mason.Mason says they only bring the kids out for recess in the morning, in fear of them being caught in the crossfire during the day.Police just haven't been able to do nothing about it, says Mason.Brittany Anderson is a teacher at the center.Don't nobody want to see another child get hurt. I don't like to see the other kids getting hurt, but you know that's life, says Mason.Mason tells us they've wanted to move the center sooner, but they couldn't afford to break their lease for the building. As for teachers there, the good news, we're told none will lose their jobs as a result of the merging, however some teachers will go to a part-time status.

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