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City leaders reach out to Adamsville residents after deadly Atlanta park shooting

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Updated  August 3, 2022 11:46pm EDT
SW Atlanta
FOX 5 Atlanta

Community leaders hold walk-through after deadly park shooting

Members of one southwest Atlanta community gathered the evening after a deadly shooting at Wilson Mill Park. They were joined by top brass from the Atlanta Police Department and members of the Atlanta City Council.

ATLANTA - Investigators with the Atlanta Police Department are following several leads in a deadly shooting that took place in a southwest Atlanta neighborhood Tuesday night.

Interim Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum and other city leaders met with residents on Wednesday for a walk-and-talk at Wilson Mill Park to answer questions and address their concerns about safety.

"When something like this happened, it’s shocking, so for them to know that they have the support of the Atlanta Police Department is important to us," Chief Schierbaum said.

District 10 City Council member Andrea L. Boone said residents in Adamsville are taking steps to take their neighborhood back after the shooting that left one man dead.

"The activity that happened last night is not what we know in our community," she explained.

Boone, who lives just a few doors down from where it happened, said it’s not the first shooting at the park nestled between a school and the neighborhood.

"There was a shooting July 24th, and now August 2nd, which was a homicide, which means things are beginning to escalate in the city of Atlanta, right here at Wilson Mill Park," she said.

Interim Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum meets with residents in the Adamsville neighborhood on August 3, 2022.

Interim Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum meets with residents in the Adamsville neighborhood on August 3, 2022. (FOX 5)

Longtime resident SJ Tuck said for more than 50 years, he’s walked the park to exercise. On a number of his more recent walks, he told city leaders he’s seen shell casings.

"Of the 53 years, I think this is the first actual murder I’ve heard in the park up here," he stated. "Down near the parking lot, there’s bullet casings, there on many different occasions, it’s not just one time. I’ve seen it many different times now."

While APD detectives continue their investigation into the shooting, Chief Schierbaum asked residents for their help, to be the eyes and ears of the community, where the average age of residents is 75 years old.

They’re asking anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers Atlanta.

Chief Schierbaum said they couldn’t share any additional details about the investigation, but said investigators don’t believe there’s any present danger to the community.

He also said he and the Atlanta Parks and Recreation Director Justin Cutler are continuing talks about strategies to make the city’s parks a safer place.