As the sun rose Friday morning, a distraught mother braced for the worst as she made her way to a crime scene in northeast Atlanta.
Wrapped in grief and despair, the woman and two of her children embraced as they waited to meet with a medical examiner’s office investigator. Then, holding her hand, the investigator confirmed the dreaded news: Her son had been shot and he did not survive.
The emotional scene unfolded in the empty parking lot of the old — and now-closed — Rhodes Bakery at the corner of Cheshire Bridge Road and Windemere Drive. It was one of at least nine shootings across metro Atlanta that claimed five lives and left seven others injured within less than 24 hours.
The spate of gunfire started Thursday afternoon and spanned the metro area, including four in Atlanta, one in Brookhaven, another in South Fulton and three others in Cobb, DeKalb and Gwinnett counties. At least one person has been arrested — a suspect in the Brookhaven shooting.
The scenes varied, including a parking lot outside a tattoo shop and a parking deck at a Midtown Atlanta high-rise. One man was killed at a troubled apartment complex, and another was found dead in a vehicle.
While the metro area experiences its fair share of gun violence each day, nine shootings with at least five fatalities is an alarming number in such a short amount of time. It’s not clear what drove the latest rash of violence, but law enforcement often points to the correlation between increased crime and rising temperatures as more people spend time outdoors, creating more opportunities for conflicts to arise.
At the scene on Cheshire Bridge Road, Atlanta police said they were called to the area around 5 a.m. and found two men with gunshot wounds. Officials have not publicly identified the man who died. The other man had been shot multiple times in his leg and was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he underwent surgery, police said. He was said to be stable.
Investigators said they believe a “narcotics transaction” led to the shooting, and it appeared both men shot each other.
Details are limited in the other incidents.
· The first round of gunfire erupted at around 5:40 p.m. Thursday at the Reserve at Birch Creek apartments, a troubled complex along Campbellton Road in southwest Atlanta. One man, whose name was not released, died at the scene and another was taken to a hospital with multiple gunshot wounds. His condition was not disclosed.
· At 6:30 p.m., Cobb police were called to the 2200 block of Powers Ferry Road, where they found a man shot to death inside a vehicle. He was identified as 43-year-old Curtis Coleman of Powder Springs.
· Shortly before 8 p.m., Gwinnett police were called to The Paramont apartments on Pleasant Lake Village Lane, where one man was critically wounded but was said to be stable and another man was killed. He was identified as 29-year-old Faisal Nortey of Atlanta. Investigators believe the men were in some sort of fight that escalated to them shooting each other, but officials weren’t sure who shot first.
· Around 10:30 p.m., Brookhaven police got a call about a person shot outside the Ink N Flesh Tattoo studio on Chamblee Dunwoody Road, officials said. There, they found a 32-year-old man dead with a gunshot wound. His name was not released. Investigators quickly identified 35-year-old Jonathan Thomas as a suspect and arrested him Friday on one count of murder and two illegal weapons charges.
· At 12:30 a.m. Friday, Atlanta police were called to a Midtown parking deck at 888 Juniper Street, where they found a man who had been shot in the abdomen after confronting a suspect who was breaking into his vehicle, officials said. He was described as alert when he was taken to Grady. Police said the suspect got into what appeared to be a white SUV before firing shots at the victim as the vehicle sped away. No other details were released by police.
· Just before 3:30 a.m., DeKalb police were called to the 1100 block of Maple Walk Circle and found a woman with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound. She was taken to the hospital and was considered stable. The woman was not publicly identified, and investigators did not share any information about the shooter.
Credit: John Spink
Credit: John Spink
· South Fulton police got a call about a shooting on Wolf Downs Court around 9 a.m. that left at least one person injured.
· Atlanta police received a report of gunfire around noon. It happened in the area of Pryor Street and the I-20 West ramp, where responding officers found an unconscious man suffering from a gunshot wound to the groin, police said. He was taken to the hospital, but police did not share an update on his condition. The suspect fled before officers arrived.
All of the investigations are ongoing.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
