Police believe four students who were shot at a block party near Atlanta University Center last week were caught in the crossfire of two armed rivals.
“Two guys, probably rival gang members or drug dealers, see each other and exchanged gunfire,” Atlanta Sgt. Ron Paxson told WSB Radio on Wednesday.
The female students who were injured in the 10:30 p.m. shooting last Tuesday were all shot by one of the men, Paxson said. That man is seen on security camera footage as an attendee of the party before he began shooting. While there are two shooters, Paxson said the one police are most anxious to identify is the one whose bullets hit the students, who were in a crowd of some 200 others celebrating the new school year in front of the Robert W. Woodruff Library on James P. Brawley Drive.
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Police have released video of the incident showing the wanted shooter. Police aren’t sure if he’s a student at Atlanta University Center, which includes Morehouse College, Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University.
“The shooter is out there for hours. We’re confident he’s well known,” Paxson said.
Two Spelman College students and two Clark Atlanta University students were taken to a hospital with injuries ranging from graze wounds to gunshot wounds, according to police. All are expected to survive.
One of the students, Elyse Spencer, 18, posted an update on social media Wednesday, appearing from a local hospital. She wrote on Instagram that her first two weeks at college had been marked by making friends, partying, exploring Atlanta University Center — and getting shot.
“But from all that I grew to know myself a little more, feel the sisterhood that everyone raves about and grow stronger,” she wrote. “And watch out for me, because imma shake things up even with a bullet in my chest.”
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