Another argument escalated to gunfire Sunday night, this time outside a nightclub in the Castleberry Hill neighborhood of southwest Atlanta, leaving business owners in the area concerned about safety.
Atlanta police officers got a call at around 9 p.m. about shots fired outside the Escobar Restaurant & Tapas at 327 Peters Street, a news release states. They spoke with a security guard who told them that a group of men in a vehicle were arguing with another man who was on foot. The argument escalated, shots were fired and everyone involved fled before police arrived.
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No injuries were reported, according to police, but several vehicles and other properties were damaged. Police did not confirm if the shooters were patrons of the club.
Escobar Restaurant & Tapas, co-owned by rapper 2 Chainz, could not be reached for comment.
In a neighboring business’ security footage shared with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a barrage of gunfire can be heard as people run around a building corner to duck behind a car. At the corner of the screen, a man is seen initially crouching for cover next to a vehicle before he returns fire as he takes a few steps back, then returns to a crouching position. The people hiding on the other side of the building then run away.
Artist Miya Bailey owns the Peters Street Station, an art gallery and community center right next to the club, and is frustrated over the violence that has found its way to the neighborhood. His business has been there for 16 years.
He and other artists and business owners have worked hard to cultivate a warm, family-friendly environment, he said. In fact, one of the artists, Petie Parker, had just finished giving a group of women a tour of his solo exhibit and had gone to the back of the building when the gunfire erupted.
Parker, who manages the workspace, said the shooting was so loud it sounded like it was coming from inside the building.
“It was kinda surreal,” he said. “I thought maybe — we have a projector in our building; we do film screenings. So I was thinking that we just had our surround sound up loud or something, might’ve been a movie. But it went on for so long, and that’s when I realized, ‘Oh, this is like actually happening.’”
When it was all over, he saw that a bullet had hit one of the front windows where artists often paint. The glass hadn’t fallen yet, but a few seconds later, nearly the entire pane came crashing down.
Among those who had just toured the gallery was a pregnant woman, and she had been sitting right in front of the window that shattered, Parker said. He thinks the group heard the commotion and left just in time.
“Aside from the crime and all that stuff, that’s why (Bailey) is so livid, because it could have easily (hurt) somebody who has nothing to do with that type of stuff,” Parker said.
It isn’t the first time he’s had to replace a window after it was shot out. The first time was about three years ago, but both he and Parker said they often hear gunfire in the area.
“I want my children — my daughters, all my grandbabies, to be able to sit right in front of my building if they want to and enjoy the balloons and blowing bubbles,” Bailey said. “I strongly believe that people can curate the energy of any neighborhood ... because we did it. We can have fun and not be violent. We do it all the time. We ain’t never had a problem.”
As for Parker, he said he is concerned for his safety, but he doesn’t want to live in fear.
“After COVID, I’m just a keep-going type of guy. I don’t really believe in living in fear, but I do believe in being cautious and being aware of your surroundings,” he said.
But he does think something needs to be done about safety, because, “If people feel like they can’t come to the community center, what’s the point?”
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