Cops: Double shooting on Georgia State’s campus started with drug deal

Two people were shot Monday night on the campus of Georgia State University, police said. BEN GRAY/ BGRAY@AJC.COM

Two people were shot Monday night on the campus of Georgia State University, police said. BEN GRAY/ BGRAY@AJC.COM

Two people have been charged in a double shooting on the campus of Georgia State University and one of the suspects is an 18-year-old student, a school police spokesman said.

The incident began about 9:30 p.m. Monday when GSU student Bryan Rhoden met visitors Shelton Torance Flournoy II and Jalyn Isaiah Knight in the parking lot outside the Piedmont North residence hall, Deputy Chief Carlton Mullis said Tuesday morning in a statement.

Flournoy, 19, and Knight, 18, were sitting in a Honda near the intersection of Piedmont Avenue and Ellis Street. Rhoden, a Piedmont North resident, “came down to the car attempting to sell some drugs,” Mullis told Channel 2 Action News.

Once inside the car, an argument started.

GSU freshman Cameron Buyers heard the argument as he walked toward a residence hall after class.

“I thought it was just regular stuff,” Buyers said. “And then I heard a gunshot.”

Flournoy was shot three times with Rhoden’s Glock .40 caliber handgun and Rhoden was shot once in the chest with Flournoy’s .22 caliber handgun, police said.

Police said one person ran about a block away and collapsed in front of the University Commons, a complex of four apartment buildings on GSU’s campus.

Rhoden and Flournoy were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where they were listed in serious condition, Mullis said.

Each man was charged with assault, attempted murder and possession of a firearm on campus, he said. The latter charge is a misdemeanor. Knight, the third person believed to be involved in the incident, was detained for questioning. He has not been charged.

Police recovered guns used in the shooting and “a significant quantity of marijuana in a backpack belonging to Rhoden,” Mullis said.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is assisting GSU police in its investigation, Mullis said. According to Channel 2, the GBI is in charge of collecting and securing evidence.

The shooting follows several armed robberies outside and inside the Georgia State campus library, where computers, cellphones and cash were taken from students.