24-year-old father shot and killed outside downtown Atlanta venue

ATLANTA — Atlanta police are investigating after a man was shot and killed outside a hookah lounge in downtown Atlanta early Tuesday morning.

The shooting happened on the 250 block of Trinity Ave. around 6 a.m. Officers found a man dead from at least one gunshot wound in the middle of the street outside a building that houses a hookah lounge and a nightclub.

Channel 2′s Kristen Holloway talked with a woman at the scene, who said that the victim was the 24-year-old father of her 1-year-old daughter.

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Police said they believe that an argument broke out inside the building and then escalated into a shooting.

The man was shot and killed outside on the street.

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Police said they are talking to several witnesses to try to piece the events leading up to the shooting. Police said they were told a vehicle left the scene and that they are working to identify a person of interest.

People outside the building cried and hugged. The victim has not been identified.

In 2020, up-and-coming Chicago rapper King Von was shot to death outside the same building after a shootout in the parking lot. A 22-year-old Savannah man was arrested and charged with murder in that case. Three other people were injured.

The owner of the Monaco hookah lounge in the building, where police initially said the argument happened, told Channel 2 Action News that the lounge was actually closed and the incident started at a private event facility upstairs from the lounge.

“They’re not even legal. They don’t even have a license,” the owner said. “I’m furious. This has killed our business.”

Police are also investigating a deadly shooting that happened on the 2500 block of Jonesboro Road around 5:30 Tuesday morning. Police said the shootings were not related and that both investigations are still active.

Gunman in custody after SWAT standoff on Greyhound bus shuts down I-85 in Gwinnett County for hours The incident prompted a SWAT response and shut down the highway between Indian Trail and Beaver Ruin roads for hours in both direction.

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