SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – People are reacting after a shooting in downtown Springfield over the weekend.

The Downtown Springfield Association is working with police and businesses to cut down on future crimes.
Some people Ozarksfirst spoke with said they aren’t concerned with being downtown during the day, it’s at night when they become a little nervous.

“Concerned, not surprised though,” said John Brown, who was in downtown Springfield Monday. “I mean I come down here a lot, I see the type of nightlife there can be and what certain things you can run into.”

Brown wasn’t the only one who was spending part of his day downtown on Monday.

Paul Nordin, who visits the area frequently, said it’s all about paying attention to your surroundings.
“It doesn’t bother me any,” said Nordin. “Honestly, it’s not bad. You hear about things like that, but you choose the situations that you get into.”

The Downtown Springfield Association said these incidents are relatively rare.

“This is related to bar closing and those late-night activities,” said DSA Executive Director Rusty Worley. “For the vast majority of our patrons who are coming down to dinner or a movie, seeing a show, they’re not out downtown till 1 o’clock, 1:30 in the morning.”

Worley said shootings happen all over town, not just downtown.

“If someone is coming down and they’re not involved in this type of behavior, then the chances of them getting involved in something like this is really, really low,” said Worley.

For people going downtown at night, he said there are things to keep in mind.

“Just trying to use as much good, common sense,” said Worley. “We do have a good police presence that’s out during that time. Just trying to stay in areas that have a good police presence.”

Worley said they’re working with the police to see if there is anything else that can be learned from nearby video footage.

They also plan on investigating how they can improve lighting or local business practices.