Arrests made after 4 killed, 17 injured in string of shootings in Atlanta

The national drop in homicides is around 17% this year compared to the same time last year.

While violence has declined in the city, Atlanta police Chief Darin Schierbaum told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week that city and community groups should work together to build de-escalation skills in society to help stem those conflicts.

“We need the work of all of Atlanta, faith communities, civic communities, family groups, to be able to infuse society with (de-escalation) skills, how to be able to navigate those times of anger,” the chief said. “Let’s put the guns down.”

On Saturday, separate shootings hours apart left six injured, including two teenagers, according to police.

In the first incident, two men and a woman were shot around 3 a.m. at a restaurant in the 300 block of Edgewood Avenue, police said.

Officers arrived to find one man with gunshot wounds to the abdomen and thigh, a second man who had been shot in the leg and a woman with multiple gunshot wounds, police said.

All three were alert while being taken to the hospital for treatment, investigators said.

“The preliminary investigation indicates that the incident was a booting dispute which escalated to gunfire and that the suspects fled the scene in a black in color Jeep Renegade with a Missouri license plate,” police said in a statement.

In the second shooting Saturday, officers were called at 11:37 a.m. to the 3000 block of Middleton Road, where they found three females shot, police said. The three — ages 21, 19 and 45 — were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where one person was in critical condition.

“Preliminary investigation suggests this was an ongoing dispute and investigators have one person detained for questioning,” police said.

The three women, 21-year-old Jamesia Harkness, 19-year-old Jamyia Mason and 45-year-old Chiquita Mason, will be taken into custody for their involvement in the shooting, police said Monday. They were each shot during the incident and were recovering at a hospital, according to authorities.

Harkness is facing charges of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and first-degree damage to property, police said. Jamyia Mason and Chiquita Mason were both charged with aggravated assault. Police have not said if they are related.

On Friday at 5:52 p.m., officers responded to a Lakewood Avenue shopping center after a man was shot to death, according to police.

After the shooting, police identified the suspect as Corey Page, who was arrested. Page is facing charges of murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

Separate shootings on Broad and McDaniel streets left two others injured Friday.

According to police, Maurice Walker was shot in the abdomen on McDaniel Street. The 36-year-old was later arrested and charged with simple assault for his “involvement in (the) domestic violence incident,” police said.

A teenager was killed and five others injured Thursday night after a shooting at Empire Park in southeast Atlanta, according to authorities.

Officers responded to the park in the 200 block of Oak Drive around 9:45 p.m. and found two people who had been shot, a 21-year-old woman, and an 18-year-old who died at the scene.

At around the same time, police were dispatched to nearby Mt. Zion Road, where they found three more gunshot victims. A sixth person was found by police after being shot in the back seat of a vehicle during a traffic stop on nearby Old Hapeville Road. He had been struck in the leg, according to police.

“At this time, it appears that each of the shooting scenes are all related with the actual incident location being 279 Oak Drive,” police said.

Video was released by police Monday that showed an unidentified suspect getting out of dark sedan that had pulled up to the entrance of Empire Park before the shooting. The department said it was asking for the public’s help in providing information about the man.

Also Thursday, at approximately 1 p.m., officers were called to the 1600 block of Memorial Drive after a man was shot. He died at the scene.

About 90 minutes later, officers were called to Skylar Way, where another man was shot and killed, police said.

On Friday, 36-year-old Tavaris Williams was charged with murder in connection with both of those killings on Memorial Drive and Skylar Way. He was booked into the county jail and is being held without bond.

Earlier in the week, four people were injured in three separate shootings on Greensferry Avenue, Mount Gilead Road and Willoughby Way, according to police.