Montgomery Mayor Stephen Reed said he had a good conversation with Gov. Kay Ivey Wednesday about how to address crime in the city in the wake of the recent gun violence in Alabama capital city.
“Thank you, [Governor Kay Ivey], for the conversation this morning,” Reed said. “Montgomery is committed to doing our part—and we welcome the state’s partnership—as we tackle crime and build stronger, safer communities together.”
Ivey has been wanting to connect with Reed to discuss how the state can be of assistance after the Saturday night downtown mass shooting that left two dead and 12 wounded.
Earlier this week, Ivey’s office claimed that she called the mayor, but he didn’t pick up or call her back.
“Governor Ivey attempted to reach Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed Monday morning to offer her support. While he did not take the call, she left a voicemail to ask what she could do to help,” Gina Maiola, Governor Ivey’s top spokesperson said in a statement to Yellowhammer News.
Reed responded to the report, denying he ever received a phone call.
“Stop lying! No one called me,” Reed said. “Shameful how some of the Governor’s staff want to use this tragedy to score political points at the expense of people’s pain.”
Despite the back and forth, Reed and Ivey eventually spoke on the phone Wednesday.
“It was good to connect with [Mayor Stephen Reed] this morning,” Ivey said. “I reiterated what I said in my message Monday and that is that the state will do our very best to support local efforts. The state is a partner, just as I want locals to be a partner to us in combatting crime!”
Ivey announced expanded ALEA patrols among other measure to help keep Montgomery residents and visitors safe.
Reed told reporters Tuesday that there is cooperation between several Alabama agencies on the investigation and on how to prevent this kind of violence from occurring again in the future.
“We’ll continue to work with our partners at the County Sheriff’s Office, our partners at the state with the Alabama law enforcement, law enforcement agency as well as the ATF and the FBI,” Reed said. “So whether it’s federal, state or local, we’re going to work with each and every law enforcement agency we can and we’re going to work with those entities that want to work with us, that are outside of law enforcement to continue to make this a safer city.”
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee
