Inside City Hall: What can Atlanta lawmakers do after the Midtown shooting?
Atlanta’s lawmakers are searching for answers after a lone gunman allegedly shot five people last week at the Laureate Medical Group inside a Midtown office building.
Police said suspect Deion Patterson fatally shot Amy St. Pierre and wounded four others on Wednesday. He was captured near Truist Park after a day-long manhunt.
Patterson’s attorney, public defender Shawn Hoover, says his client has mental health issues.
The shooting has reignited calls by Democrats — particularly those in City Hall — for stricter gun laws and more support for mental illness.
However, city lawmakers acknowledge that it’s unlikely Gov. Brian Kemp will create restrictions. Kemp signed a measure last year for Georgians to carry concealed handguns without a license, thus creating more access to guns.
But Atlanta’s Democratic City Council told us that needs to change, it it looks like the mayor agrees. Mayor Andre Dickens penned an open letter to residents last week in which he said: “It’s the guns.”
“We have not had the legislative talks yet, but I imagine over the next few weeks, I’ll be reaching out to our state, local and federal partners,” Dickens said.
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Local leaders feel hand-tied: Councilman Amir Farokhi, who represents the Midtown neighborhood where the shooting occurred, visited the scene the day after the incident. He agreed that local Democrats who want stricter gun control measures face large headwinds in a state with GOP leadership in favor of loosening gun laws.
“We haven’t been able to see action on it,” he said. “You can do stuff at the state level. We’ve seen this in other states across the country that have put in place reasonable guardrails and have seen lower gun violence rates. So it’s possible here in Georgia and certainly possible around the country.”
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Task force frenzy: Mayor Andre Dickens’ South River Forest and Public Safety Training Center Community Task Force held meetings for the first time last week. Full task force and separate subgroup meetings were initially off limits to the public until we reported their closed-door nature of the meetings.
Now Atlantans and media can watch proceedings online as the 40-member group studies and makes recommendations on the planned public safety training center in DeKalb County. But the effort is on a tight schedule. The mayor’s office expects recommendations by August, meaning members are dedicated to bi-weekly meetings up until then.
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Putting pressure on feds: We reported last week that a coalition of Atlanta Democratic state lawmakers has joined calls for the Justice Department to conduct an independent investigation into the death of environmental activist Manuel Teran who was fatally shot by police at the site of the planned public safety training center.
Atlanta City Council member Liliana Bakhtiari also called for the federal investigation into Teran’s death after DeKalb County released its autopsy that showed Teran suffered more than 50 gunshot wounds. Lawmakers are hoping that the multiple requests will mount pressure on the DOJ to intervene.
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Airport improvements: City Council approved legislation last week to give the city the go-ahead to increase the budget for widening Concourse D at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Initial phases of construction for the were originally slated to cost $200 million but council members approved a hefty increase to $365 million.
The project will widen Concourse D from 60 to 99 feet, add north and south extensions, bring existing structures up to code and relocate passenger boarding bridges.
About the Authors
Riley Bunch is a reporter on the local government team at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution covering Atlanta City Hall. She covers the mayor and Atlanta City Council while also keeping an eye on the city’s diverse neighborhoods.
Wilborn P. Nobles III covers Atlanta City Hall for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He began covering DeKalb County Schools for The AJC in November 2020. He previously covered Baltimore County for The Baltimore Sun and education for the Times-Picayune in New Orleans. He interned at the Washington Post. He graduated from Louisiana State University.
