Summer ends with 
a spate of crime in metro Atlanta

By Jennifer Brett

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Summer ended with a spree of violence, as a string of high-profile crimes grabbed headlines this past week.

Tuesday morning, someone shot an elderly laundromat owner to death as she opened for business. Just after midnight Wednesday, a stray bullet killed a Spelman College student as she was walking by campus. Thursday night, two children were injured by gunfire in an apartment complex parking lot.

“These are high-profile crimes and people are outraged,” Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington said at a Friday gathering of police officials and pastors.

“There is a crisis of violence in our community,” the Rev. Howard Creecy Jr. of Olivet Baptist Church in Fayetteville added.

But even the crimes that don’t make nightly newscasts leave residents shaken.

“It’s sad when the first thing you do in the morning is look out the window to see if your cars are still there,” said Stacy Lucas, who lives in the Oak Grove neighborhood. Her car was indeed stolen this spring. On Thursday, thieves came back for more.

“They took all of our electronics, my laptop and our DVDs,” she said. “They took a fire safe that had personal documents in it, and three 12-packs of Coke.”

The family left about 7:30 a.m. and returned after 5 p.m. to discover the burglary. Although she hurried her son to a neighbor’s house before calling police, Lucas wasn’t emotional at the sight of her kicked-in basement door and ransacked home.

“It’s gotten to the point where I was not surprised. It was like, oh, it was our turn,” she said, ticking off the neighbors whose computers or flat-screen televisions have been swiped. “Isn’t it sad that you expect that you’re going to go home and half of your stuff is going to be gone?”

Many residents are fortifying to protect and defend themselves. Michael Moebes of Boulevard Heights installed an outdoor siren on his home alarm. Keith McDermott of Collier Hills, who has been burglarized twice, has put in new doors and locks.

Wendy Angel and her husband, who moved to Grant Park three years ago, have reinforced the front door, installed a shatter-proof storm door in the back and installed an alarm system. They have three large dogs — and now, for the first time, a gun.

“We had never even thought of owning a gun when we lived in Woodstock,” Angel said. “I am fed up with the crime in our area. We often hear gunshots coming from the apartments near us and dutifully call the police every time, yet they do nothing about it. Our neighbors have even had 911 hang up on them when they call to report gunshots. It’s ridiculous. I am completely disillusioned by Atlanta police.”

She was actually prepared for more crime when choosing to move intown, but she has still been taken aback.

“I did not realize that it was going to get so much worse over the years,” she said. “I know Atlanta police have bigger worries than petty theft now, but my concern is that the offenders are getting more brazen. When people know they can get away with crime, they test to see how much more they can do without consequence.”

But not with her community, she added.

“We have never thought about moving back to the suburbs,” Angel said. “We love what urban living has to offer, and Grant Park really is a wonderful community with wonderful people. We could just do without the crime.”

Cops are looking to the public for help.

“We can’t solve all the crimes without citizen participation,” Pennington said. “I know we can sit down at the table in a collaborative way on how we can make this city safer.”

The Rev. Raphael Warnock, senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, struck a plaintive chord.

“It’s a tragic day when the message to our children is they are not safe when standing on a street corner,” he said, referring to the Spelman student’s killing. “If Jasmine Lynn is not safe on a college campus, then none of us are safe.”

Lynn’s death also resonated with College Park resident Andrea Weaver.

“Just last week, my co-worker and I were in the AU Center and were commenting on the boarded-up buildings [near] the campus,” she said. “It looks like trouble hiding and waiting. The city needs more of a police presence. The police need to be seen walking as well as just driving around.”

Her four large dogs, including two pit bulls, help her sleep at night. And although she’s filled with the fears all parents have when their kids leave for college, she’s a bit more at ease with stepson Dom Wise’s choice as he begins school this fall.

“I am so glad he decided not to attend college here in Atlanta,” she said.

He’s at Montana State University instead.

Staff writer Megan Matteucci contributed to this article.