Man found shot in busy Cobb shopping and dining area

Scene is less than a mile from last week’s shooting at Cumberland Mall
Cobb County police investigated a shooting Tuesday night outside a restaurant on Akers Mill Road.

Credit: Channel 2 Action News

Credit: Channel 2 Action News

Cobb County police investigated a shooting Tuesday night outside a restaurant on Akers Mill Road.

For the third time this month, Cobb County police were called to the Cumberland shopping and dining area to investigate a shooting.

Tuesday night’s incident was reported just before 9:30 p.m. at the Cinco Mexican Cantina in the 2800 block of Akers Mill Road, according to Cobb police spokeswoman Officer Shenise Barner. Upon arrival, officers found a 36-year-man who had been shot.

Willie Snelson, who was alert when police arrived, was taken to the hospital and was stable, Barner said in a news release. Early reports indicated two people were shot at the scene, but Barner said those were based on dispatch information and were incorrect.

Witnesses told investigators that an argument and fight escalated to gunfire, Barner said. Police do not have any information about a suspect at this time.

One week earlier, police were called to Cumberland Mall about a shootout involving two vehicles that left four people injured. One of the shooting victims was a boy of “elementary school age,” police said at the time.

Three teenagers — identified by police as 18-year old Karanji Reese, 19-year-old Jokava Harris and 19-year-old Desean Powell — were stable when they were taken to a hospital. Two were shot, and one “was the victim of aggravated assault,” according to Barner. The three victims had gunshot wounds to the leg, foot and back.

The mall is less than a mile from the site of Tuesday’s shooting.

The three teens were later charged with gun and drug offenses. Harris and Reese were arrested the same day the shooting took place, while Powell was arrested two days later.

On March 16, just a few hundred yards from the Mexican restaurant, a 12-year-old boy was shot in the chest in the parking lot of the Parkway Pointe complex on Cobb Parkway. The facility houses a bowling alley, movie theater and retail stores.

The boy was stable when emergency crews were called to the lot about 11:40 p.m.

A 20-year-old South Fulton man, Jamarcus McClure, was taken into custody a day later. His arrest warrant said the stray bullet that hit the child was fired from an AK-47. McClure faces four felonies, including aggravated assault, aggravated battery, cruelty to children and criminal damage to property. Arrest warrants have also been issued for a second man accused of taking part in the shooting.

Anyone with more information about the latest shooting is asked to call 770-499-3945.