Kirkwood man shot while mowing lawn in critical condition

By MEGAN MATTEUCCI

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

An Atlanta man remains is recovering from surgery after robbers shot him while he was mowing his lawn.

Kenneth Hagen, 55, was cutting grass Friday in the 2000 block of Ridgedale Road in the Kirkwood neighborhood when the attack occurred, Atlanta Police spokesman Officer James Police said.

A man demanded cash from Hagen and then opened fire, Polite said Saturday.

Paramedics rushed Hagen to Grady Memorial Hospital with three gunshots wounds to his torso, police said. He was listed in critical condition on Saturday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

“He’s stabilizing, but he’s not out of the woods,” sister-in-law Kimberly Hagen said late Saturday. Kenneth Hagen is recovering from surgery, she said.

Police are still investigating the shooting and trying to determine if there was one or two robbers, Polite said Saturday. However, detectives are looking for a red Kia.

Police initially said the robbers were trying to steal the victim’s weed wacker, but later learned they were seeking money, Polite said.

Sandra Mersinger, president of the Kirkwood Neighbors’ Organization, said she has been on the phone with frantic residents since the Friday shooting.

“We talked to the police and they say in general crime is down in Atlanta and it’s supposed to be just criminals who know each other shooting at one another. But lately there are all these stranger-on-stranger crimes,” she said. “I need to mow my lawn today. I’m not going to do it.”

Despite neighbors’ concern, officers said the attack was not unusual.

“Nothing is surprising,” Polite said Saturday.

Mersinger, a lifelong Atlanta resident, said she is trying not to let the shooting scare her. She plans to still do her daily jog, but she now carries her cell phone.

“I don’t want to be a victim and shuttered in my house, but I’m very on guard,” she said. “I walk with my cell phone in my pocket and my hand on it at all times.”

Mersinger worries that city leaders don’t have any realistic solutions to halt the crime trend.

“It’s this group of teenagers that don’t have the mental responsibility to accept there are repercussions and everyone is scared,” she said.

— Alexis Stevens contributed to this report