A man was shot to death at a dilapidated apartment complex in South Fulton early Wednesday morning, marking the sixth person killed there this year, according to police.
South Fulton officers were called around 6 a.m. to the Camelot Condominiums on Old National Highway, where they found 39-year-old Wendell Lowe with gunshot wounds in a vehicle. He did not survive.
No suspects have been arrested, police said.
Camelot Condominiums, sometimes referred to as The Trenches, was among 275 of the metro area’s persistently dangerous complexes, according to the AJC’s “Dangerous Dwellings” investigation that looked into serious crimes, lax maintenance and other hazards in Atlanta neighborhoods.
Its sign has been so badly damaged that its name isn’t even displayed. Windows have been busted. Trash is piled up around the community. And the buildings’ facades are falling apart.
The complex, which has been in disrepair for years, used to be a community filled with airline workers in the early 1990s. Now, it has a reputation for crime and squatters and has been the scene where at least 15 people were killed since 2019, according to crime data. Fires have also plagued the complex, including one in January 2020 that displaced 60 people and another nearly a year later that displaced 20 residents.
Of the killings, not all have been criminally motivated. For example, in July of this year, a woman fatally shot a man in self-defense during a violent domestic abuse incident, police said at the time. She was released from custody after questioning.
The city has said that most of the crime is drug-related and vowed in 2021 to fix the issues afflicting the community after three people were shot to death within a day, but it is not clear where those efforts stand.
City leaders did not immediately return requests for comment. In June, Councilman Corey Reeves told Channel 2 Action News that he has been working behind the scenes on efforts to clean up the place. Other councilmembers told the news station they couldn’t discuss the complex during meetings due to litigation between code enforcement and certain residents.
Anyone with information about Wednesday’s homicide is asked to contact police. Tipsters can remain anonymous, and be eligible for rewards of up to $2,500, by contacting Crime Stoppers Atlanta at 404-577-8477, texting information to 274637 or visiting the Crime Stoppers website.
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