A 12-year-old boy was killed in a drive-by shooting Thursday night in southwest Atlanta, police said.
Those responsible remained on the run late Thursday, and Atlanta police said they had no new details to release early Friday. Chief Darin Schierbaum said investigators were “actively pursuing all leads” to find the alleged shooter.
Officials received a 911 call shortly after 7 p.m. reporting that shots had been fired at an apartment complex in the 3200 block of Cushman Circle. There, authorities said they found the child with an apparent gunshot wound. He was later identified as Ja’nylen Greggs by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Investigators say they believe the shooting involved two groups and the child was an innocent bystander, Schierbaum told reporters at the scene.
“What we currently know is that there were two groups here at the apartment complex and that a conflict occurred between those two groups,” Schierbaum said. “One group returned to a blue car, and once they entered that car and started to drive down the street they opened fire on the group they had been in an argument with just moments before. In that exchange of gunfire, the 12-year-old was shot.”
Ja’nylen was taken to a hospital in critical condition and later died.
Another person was injured while trying to get away from the scene, Schierbaum said. That person was not shot, and officials said the injuries were not believed to be serious.
The shooting happened at the complex just south of I-20 and east of I-285 near Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Yellow police tape was strung up near at least two buildings in the community.
“This neighborhood lost a child, and this city lost a child,” Schierbaum said. “This is what the impact of gun violence is. As I speak to you now, this police department is actively pursuing all leads that have been given to us, and looking for the individuals in the blue car and the others that were here in the apartment complex.”
Thursday’s incident came less than a month after a shooting at the same complex. On May 19, a 28-year-old man was shot in the head, according to police. He was alert while being taken to the hospital, police said at the time.
In a separate incident in September 2023, 49-year-old Darryl Chambers was shot to death at the complex, according to police. In February, a second suspect was arrested in that homicide.
“While we have been blessed for the last two years to see a reduction in gun violence in our city, the homicide rate continues to drop,” Schierbaum said. “Individuals that use guns to settle disputes impact us all as a society, all of us in Atlanta, and right here in this neighborhood.”
As of Saturday, Atlanta police had investigated 36 homicides, compared with 56 at the same point last year.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
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