A Clayton County mosque was damaged last week after being struck multiple times in a drive-by shooting, police confirmed.
At least two bullets hit the building while another hit a Honda Fit parked outside with someone inside, according to an incident report obtained Wednesday.
A witness walking from a nearby gas station told police five shots were fired from a red pickup traveling east along Crystal Lake Road just before 10 p.m. on March 12. The man was not able to read the vehicle’s tag and said he told officers he did not know the shots struck the building until returning to the mosque, according to the report.
No one was injured in the shooting, police said.
Investigators located five .45-caliber shell casings on the right-hand shoulder of Crystal Lake Road and recovered a bullet fragment from the wall of the mosque, according to the report.
“People are feeling comfortable doing crazy stuff like this and it has to stop,” Boubacar Bah, a board member at Masjid Badrudeen, told Channel 2 Action News. “The one place that you think you want to go and be safe is at a mosque, at a church, at a synagogue.”
Two days later, an unrelated mass shooting at two New Zealand mosques left 50 worshipers dead and dozens more wounded.
Photos: Mass casualties reported in New Zealand mosque shooting
In the wake of last week’s shooting and the attack abroad, officials at the Clayton County mosque said they are beefing up security by installing more lights, upgrading surveillance cameras and purchasing a tag reader.
No arrests have been made in the case, but Clayton police said Tuesday they are working with the mosque to increase security.
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