Community leaders want to stop gang violence after Atlanta officer shot

ATLANTA — After an Atlanta police officer was shot Monday afternoon by a man police say is a known gang member, many community activists want to put an end to gang violence.

On Monday, an APD officer was attempting to arrest a man when he pulled out a gun and shot him several times. That officer, an 11-year veteran of the Atlanta Police Department, is now battling some serious injuries at Grady Memorial Hospital.

Retired Atlanta homicide detective Vince Velasquez said scenes like this have become all too familiar.

“It’s not shocking, and that’s troubling,” he told Channel 2′s Michele Newell. “For me, being a retired law enforcement officer detective, to see an officer shot multiple times, clinging to life, it’s saddens me.”

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Police say the officer, whose identity has not been released, is a member of a specialized unit that specifically targets violent offenders.

The officer was reportedly attempting to arrest Christian Eppinger on charges of robbery and assault. That’s when officers say Eppinger pulled out a gun and shot the veteran officer multiple times near an apartment building off of Old Hapeville Road.

“It’s inherently dangerous for a cop to be on the streets anyway, but when you encounter a gang member whose been in that gang for a while, expediently [the danger] becomes even greater,” Velasquez explained.

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Gangs aren’t just a problem in the metro Atlanta area, however; it’s becoming a national issue.

“Honestly, you don’t get a handle on it, you just do the best you can,” Terrell King, the founder of Nu-Life Anti-Gang Community Program, said.

King says he grew up around gangs and wants to do what he can to point young people away from them.

He said his program was designed to “try to keep all of the young kids away from the gang activity, the street life.”

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Bruce Griggs is the Founder and Executive Director of Operation Correct Start of America, Inc. He says he has been helping young people for decades.

“A kid told me, he said, ‘Mr. Griggs, you know where I live. You know how I hurt. I want somebody else to hurt the same way I hurt and I’m going to leave it right there,’” he told Newell. “It’s a learned behavior. Just like a computer, we’ve got to get to them early and reprogram their thinking.”

Griggs is also the found of metro Atlanta’s Saving Our Sons campaign against gun violence by the Operation Correction Stop Street Academy. The campaign spans across the metro to prevent and reduce violence among youth.

“We as a community can do something. That’s why I’m upset,” Griggs said.

Atlanta police officer shot in the line of duty The shooting happened at an apartment complex off Old Hapeville Road.

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