Officials ID man killed in shooting at SW Atlanta park

A shooting inside a city park left a man dead Tuesday night and rattled residents of a southwest Atlanta neighborhood, police said.

The victim was discovered shot multiple times when Atlanta police responded to Wilson Mill Park off Bakers Ferry Road shortly after 10 p.m., Atlanta police confirmed in a news release. Homicide investigators at the scene said officers attempted first aid on the man, but he died of his injuries a short time later.

He was identified by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office as 36-year-old Lamarcus Griffin.

Atlanta City Councilmember Andrea L. Boone, who lives in the area, told Channel 2 Action News she started hearing gunshots coming from the park around 9:45 p.m.

“We began to call each other. I called my neighbor down the street, and then I got a call from the Atlanta Police Department letting me know that something had happened about 30 minutes later,” she said.

Police have not said what motivated the shooting or if any suspects have been identified. Boone said it was not the first time gunfire was heard at the park.

“Many of my neighbors have been concerned about the activity here in July,” she told the news station. “We heard several gunshots one evening, and it seems to be just escalating.”

In response to the deadly shooting, Boone held a walk-through of the park Wednesday evening. The councilwoman visited the park alongside community leaders, police officials and employees of the city’s department of parks and recreation.

“The park has become a hangout for young people in the evenings and on weekends,” Boone’s office said in a news release that indicated the councilwoman plans to work with city officials to prevent the park from becoming a hotspot for violent crime.

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