One week after a fatal officer-involved shooting shut down busy Peachtree Street, the Midtown road again became the latest site of violence in Atlanta as a fight between two men on a sidewalk escalated into a fatal stabbing Wednesday.
Many taking their usual lunch hour break became key witnesses to the physical fight that took place outside a Bank of America building at the corner of Peachtree and 12th streets about 12:20 p.m. By the time Atlanta police officers arrived at the scene, one of the men involved in the fight was waiting to talk to them on a nearby Panera patio.
“We have multiple witness statements saying they were in a physical fight before the incident, which ultimately led up to the stabbing,” police Lt. Daniel Genson told reporters during the initial stages of the investigation.
The man who was stabbed was pronounced dead at Grady Memorial Hospital. His name was not released.
The other man, who cooperated with investigators after being temporarily detained, will not face charges, police said after further investigation. The crime was classified as a “felon killed by private citizen,” according to a news release.
The police department typically uses that language in cases where someone is killed while committing a felony act.
Credit: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The victim appeared to have been stabbed once, and the knife used was recovered at the scene, Genson said. Investigators have not specified if the two men knew each other.
City water department employees who were working in the area had already started first aid before the initial officers pulled up to the scene.
A week before, and less than a mile south, Peachtree Street was the site of an officer-involved shooting that left Joseph Lee Humbles, 29, of Atlanta, dead and Atlanta officer Khuong Thai injured.
Thai was “ambushed” and shot in the face and shoulder by Humbles while responding to a shots fired call at the Solace on Peachtree Apartments, police said. The officer remains in the hospital facing multiple surgeries.
The latest incident forced authorities to close Peachtree Street between 11th and 12th streets for hours during Wednesday’s investigation.
