18-year-old killed in SE Atlanta park shooting identified; 5 others injured
Deadly shooting at SE Atlanta park
Investigators are trying to figure out what led up to the violence at a southeast Atlanta park that left a 17-year-old dead and five others hospitalized.
ATLANTA - One teenager is dead and multiple people are injured after a series of shootings rocked southeast Atlanta on Thursday evening, police say.
What we know:
Officers responded to multiple crime scenes beginning shortly after 9:40 p.m. The first call came from Empire Park on the 200 block of Oak Drive SE, where an 18-year-old male with a gunshot wound was pronounced dead at the scene. A 21-year-old female was also shot in the shoulder and taken to the hospital.
Moments later, police were dispatched to the Nirvana at Glenrose apartments located at 50 Mount Zion Road SW, where at least three people were reportedly injured by gunfire.
While continuing their investigation, police say they stopped a sedan near the corner of Cleveland Avenue and Old Hapeville Road. In the vehicle, authorities say they found that a passenger had been shot in the leg.
Both locations are in Atlanta’s southeast area within the same police beat.
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Officers spent hours talking to witnesses and going through evidence, which included hundreds of shell casings.
Investigators believe the shooting scenes are all connected with the Oak Drive location, but investigators have not said what led up to the violence.
On Friday afternoon, officials identified the 18-year-old victim as Deshawn Johnson.
Deshawn Johnson (FOX 5 Atlanta obtained permission from the rights holder)
What they're saying:
"Officers are investigating multiple people shot and at this time one of the gunshot victims was pronounced deceased on scene at 262 Oak Dr," Atlanta police said in a statement Thursday. "The 262 Oak Dr and 50 Mount Zion shootings appear to be related."
"The scene is very vast. There's a lot of shell casings, a lot of people involved. We're still processing the scene," Officer Jeff Childers said.
The victim was identified early Friday afternoon as 18-year-old Deshawn Johnson. City of residence currently unknown.
Ring doorbell video captured the chaos, with dozens of shots ringing out as terrified residents ducked for cover. One great-grandmother, who asked not to be identified, described the fear as bullets hit her home.
"Was I scared? I was hollering to the top of my voice," she said. "I crawled on my knees, skinned my knees up... going down the hall to the other room."
Two bullets struck her home. One entered the living room and ricocheted through a wall into the kitchen while she was watching television.
Atlanta Police Captain Jeff Childers confirmed the scale of the gunfire.
"There were hundreds of shell casings," Childers said. "Over a hundred shell casings."
Tyrese Miller, a senior advisor to Atlanta City Councilman Antonio Lewis, said the violence may force the city to reconsider whether Empire Park should remain open.
"I am very disappointed. I feel like as a community we have to do better," Miller said. "It is unfortunate that this happened at a park we fought so hard to open and this is going to force us to close it."
What we don't know:
No arrests have been announced.
What you can do:
If you have any information that could help with the investigation, call the Atlanta Police Department.
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The Source: The Atlanta Police Department provided the details for this article.