A man in his 20s was killed when shots were fired at a house party near Snellville, Gwinnett County police said Thursday.
Police officers were called to the same house, located about a mile from Shiloh High School, twice late Wednesday. The first time, party-goers were parked illegally outside the home, Gwinnett police Cpl. Jake Smith told the AJC. Ten minutes later, officers were called back to the home when gunshots were fired.
The shooting happened between 10 and 11 p.m. Wednesday during a party at a home in the 4200 block of Trotters Way Drive, in the Bridlegate subdivision near Bethany Church Road. About 50 college-age adults attended the party.
“There was some kind of argument that broke out,” Smith said. “One suspect produced a handgun and shot another man.”
The victim died after being shot in the backyard of the home. Gwinnett police declined to release the victim's name Thursday afternoon.
But relatives and friends told Channel 2 Action News the victim was 20-year-old Corey Johnson, a 2008 Shiloh graduate.
Detectives were interviewing numerous witnesses that attended the party throughout the day Thursday, police said.
No one answered the door Thursday afternoon at the two-story brick home, but someone inside the home told reporters to leave and threatened to call the police. Address records show the home where the party was held is owned by Erica Qualls.
Neighbor Lynn Trapp told the AJC there are often people on the back deck of the home, but the party she heard Wednesday night was louder.
"It sounded like there were 50 people out there," Trapp said outside her home Thursday afternoon.
Trapp said around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, she heard the "pow, pow, pow" of gunfire.
"We heard the loud commotion and people yelling and screaming at each other," Trapp said.
Moments later, Trapp said she heard the sirens of police cars arriving in the neighborhood.
Gwinnett officers had been dispatched to the same home four times during the past year, including twice for complaints of loud parties, Smith said Thursday afternoon. In a separate instance, officers were called due to parking violations for those at the house. And neighbors also called police to report possible suspicious activity at the home when the front door was left open, police said.
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