Teens playing with guns, an attempted carjacking, arguments — all are circumstances that led to five shootings that left two people dead and four injured across Atlanta this weekend.
Gun violence in the city, much like in other major cities across the country, has been up in recent years amid the coronavirus pandemic. Atlanta police have been trying to combat the issue, and just last month, then-interim police chief Darin Schierbaum said the department has had success fighting gang, gun and drug violence this summer.
But two areas in which police don’t have control, officials have said, is when children or adults mishandle firearms and when interpersonal disagreements boil over into violence as more and more people lack conflict-resolution skills.
“We cannot be in every home. We cannot be on every playground where disputes may arise,” Schierbaum said recently.
A deadly shooting Friday night was the result of another argument leading to gunfire, police said.
Officers were called to the 3500 block of Camp Creek Parkway around 10:30 p.m., where they found a man with a single gunshot wound, police said in a statement. The man, who was not identified publicly, was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he died.
Investigators believe the victim and suspect knew each other and had been in an ongoing dispute, according to a statement. No other details were released about the Friday night incident.
Just four hours later, around 2:30 a.m. Saturday, officers got a call about a person shot in an attempted carjacking in the 2200 block of Brooks Avenue in northwest Atlanta’s Almond Park neighborhood.
The victim, a woman who was in her SUV at a stop sign, said two male suspects approached her and demanded she give up her vehicle to them, police said in a statement. They took out a handgun, and she tried to drive away. That is when the suspects shot at her vehicle, with one of the bullets striking her in the leg.
Police described the victim as being alert when she was taken to a hospital.
Also on Saturday, police were notified that a 16-year-old had been shot at the Magnolia Park Apartments in the city’s Vine City neighborhood.
Police did not say what time the incident happened, but when officers arrived, they found the teen with a gunshot wound that was not life-threatening, according to a statement. The preliminary investigation revealed that the boy and a sibling were mishandling the firearm when it went off. The child who discharged the gun was “charged accordingly,” police said. It was not clear what charges the child faces.
Police did not release any other details about the case.
Just this year, more than two dozen shootings in the city involved accidental or unintentional shootings, according to Schierbaum. Five of those shot were children, he said.
Also on Saturday, another man was fatally shot, this time near a food mart around 5:30 p.m. in southwest Atlanta’s Sylvan Hills neighborhood.
When officers arrived at the Peach Pantry at 1085 Katherwood Drive, they found a man, whose name was not released, with a gunshot wound. He was rushed to a hospital, where he later died. No other details about the victim, the shooting or any possible suspects have been released.
A double shooting was reported Sunday. At about 3 a.m., police were called to the 400 block of Gartrell Street, just outside the Old Fourth Ward, where they found two men with gunshot wounds, according to a statement. Their conditions were not disclosed.
Investigators said the men were walking home with two women when they were approached by “by two male and female suspects in a vehicle,” police said in a statement. No other details were released in that case other than: An argument ensued, leading to gunfire.
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