There was no mistaking what Mark Michael heard as he sat in his international business class at Georgia State University. Those were gunshots, and it sounded like 12, he said Thursday.
“Loud and clear,” Michael said. “It sounded like it was right outside the window. We felt the vibrations.”
When class ended about 10 minutes later at 9:50 p.m. Wednesday, Michael walked out of the Aderhold Learning Center and saw a crime scene a block away. Investigators said four people were shot outside the J.R. Crickets, located in the bottom of the Healey Building on Forsyth Street.
Few details were released Thursday, but Atlanta police said a dispute inside the restaurant moved outside to the street. It was the latest in a string of violent crimes in the area, including a robbery by intimidation reported late Monday.
In that incident, a GSU student reported he was approached from behind by a man as he left the Aderhold building, according to campus police. That suspect then punched the student in the forehead and demanded he hand over a cellphone and headphones before running away, police said.
In the most recent incident, Atlanta police Sgt. Warren Pickard said officers didn’t find the weapons initially, but later learned the crime scene was larger than they first suspected. Officers returned to the scene Thursday morning after a gun was found under a car that had been parked.
“Initially a gun was obstructed from view by a vehicle being parked over the gun. Once the vehicle left the scene, the gun was discovered,” Pickard said. “It was a dark-colored gun. The crime scene was initially processed at night, so those types of things do happen.”
Police arrested Brent Morrie in connection with the shooting, Officer Kim Jones said Thursday. Morrie was one of the four people wounded in the shooting, but no one’s injuries were believed to be life-threatening, police said.
None of those involved in the shooting were affiliated with the university, a spokeswoman said.
No one inside J.R. Crickets was injured, but bullets shattered two large front windows. With the windows gone, the chilly temperatures outside blew into the small eatery, known for its chicken wings.
But neither the cold nor the shattered glass kept customers away. The phone rang repeatedly with people checking on employees as those walking by outside stopped to ask what had happened.
“I’m sorry about the inconvenience,” one employee told a customer. “I appreciate the support.”
A front window at the optometrist’s office next door also had to be replaced. Dr. Ronald Gurin said his practice has been in the same spot since 2008, and gunfire has never before been a concern.
"I always feel safe," Gurin said Thursday afternoon. "Things like this can happen anywhere."
A manager at one restaurant in the area, near the Fairlie-Poplar district, said he plans to add a security officer at the door.
With several Georgia State campus buildings in the area, including the Rialto Center for the Arts, students are seen throughout. Karen Stuart said she relies on the buddy system when she’s walking around and always carries pepper spray.
“It doesn’t surprise me because it’s downtown Atlanta,” Stuart said. “I expect it, but it’s still horrible it happens. You have to be aware of your surroundings.”
Since December, several students have been robbed at gunpoint of their phones and laptops while in the university's library. A $2,000 reward is being offered to help find the person responsible.
Even though Wednesday night’s shootings were off-campus, student Michael said he hopes security will be tightened. Walking around with the laptop he needs for class and a backpack makes him a vulnerable target, he said.
“We all feel insecure,” Michael said. “We’re looking at each other for a sense of security.”
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