Man with assault rifle opens fire at apartment building, not once, but twice
ATLANTA (FOX 5 Atlanta) - A man with an assault rifle opened fire at an apartment building, narrowly missing adults and children inside. Atlanta Police said he came back the next day and did the same thing.
Surveillance video from the apartment building at 455 Fulton Street SW shows a black Jeep pulling up around 6:17 p.m. Sunday evening. The video shows a man getting out of the Jeep, walking toward the building with an assault rifle in his hand. As he gets closer to the building he blasts the building.
"The entire street was littered with shell casings," said William North who lives at the Mechanicsville Family Apartments.
Atlanta Police said they found 22 shell casings in the parking lot. Windows and doors were shattered, and a couple of cars had bullet holes.
"The car parked next to my car had a bullet hole in it, very large caliber," said North.
The next day, Monday morning around 8:25 a.m., police said the same man came back and did it again.
A video shows a black Jeep pull up, a man gets out, walks toward the apartment building, opens fire and runs back to the Jeep.
"Both instances, very, very similar just different times of day, one day apart," said Atlanta Police Sgt. John Chafee.
Many of the residents are terrified. One woman who did not want her name used said she just got back in town Sunday evening, moments before the shooting.
"As we got in the house, the shooting started coming through the windows so we started falling to the floor," she said.
She told FOX 5's Denise Dillon she was too scared to stay in her apartment so she went to a hotel for the night.
"I came back Monday morning, as I was driving in, the man is walking to the building shooting. I just put it in reverse and came back out of here!" she said.
The woman said she almost hit the black Jeep as she roared out of the parking lot. She said she saw a woman in the driver's seat.
Police are now trying to figure out who the driver is, and more importantly who the gunman is and why he shot up the building.
"Whatever problems that person has with whoever they think lives in this area has some serious problems to come here twice," said North.
The apartment complex management said they are adding security and working closely with police as they investigate the shooting.
Atlanta Police are asking for anyone with information about the man with the gun or the black Jeep, to give them a call. Information can be submitted anonymously to the Crime Stoppers Atlanta tip line at 404-577-TIPS. There is a reward for the arrest and indictment of the suspect.