Business owners to be questioned in Atlanta shootout

Four people were injured in a Tuesday afternoon shootout involving an assault rifle on Metropolitan Parkway, Atlanta police reported.

“It’s possible this was a drug deal gone bad,” said police spokesman James Polite. By 6 p.m., no arrests had been made, but four or five people were taken into police custody for questioning, Polite said.

Police said the shootings occurred about 3 p.m. between two businesses at 2263 Metropolitan Parkway —- at Ya Boy! Auto Sales and Muffler King. The injured men were found scattered between the two buildings, Polite said.

By Tuesday evening the four men were in surgery at area hospitals. Police would not release the identity of the victims, but said all were men from their mid-20s to early 30s.

Jennifer Simon of Atlanta, the sister of two of the men who were shot, said after the incident they were in stable condition at Grady Memorial Hospital.

“We’re looking to question the owners of both businesses,” Polite said of the Ya Boy! and Muffler King owners.

Polite said 15 steel bullet casings, a weapon, large sums of cash and an undisclosed amount of drugs were found at the scene. He would not say what kind of drugs were found or describe the weapon, but chatter over police radio scanners during the incident said a shooter “has an AK-47 [assault rifle],” and advised officers approaching the scene to pull back.

Brad Williams, a Douglasville auto dealer, was coming out of a car auction nearby when he said he heard four shots fired. “We could hear the bullets whistle over our heads,” Williams said.

Within two minutes, Heather Hughes of Douglasville said a burst of six more shots were fired from Muffler King. Soon after, Hughes said she saw a man lying motionless on the ground next to a white Mercedes at Ya Boy! Auto Sales.

Staff writer Andria Simmons contributed to this article.