One fatally stabbed in daytime brawl near Underground Atlanta

Two men were stabbed, one of them fatally, in a brawl Friday afternoon near Underground Atlanta that involved as many as 20 people, according to police.

The identities of the men who were stabbed were not immediately available, said Atlanta police Lt. Keith Meadows, commander of the homicide unit.

The fighting happened in the street near the intersection of Peachtree and Alabama streets, Meadows said.

The deceased man was stabbed twice, in the lower back and in the thigh, while the other man was stabbed once in the side, Meadows said. It’s not clear what provoked the fight, he said.

The combatants scattered when an Atlanta police officer arrived and tried to break up the fighting, Meadows said. As people ran away, the officer found the fatally injured man on the ground.

“That’s when he discovered he was stabbed,” Meadows said.

Both men were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital. So was a third man, who suffered a laceration to the head when the officer hit him with his nightstick, Meadows said.

Police also tried to interview a young woman who recorded the brawl on her cell phone, but she was not fully cooperative, Meadows said.