ATLANTA — Another violent weekend in metro Atlanta was capped off Sunday evening with a deadly shooting at a South Fulton park.
At the same time as the deadly shooting at Welcome All Park on Sunday, an anti-violence rally was underway in the park.
Community leaders tell Channel 2 investigative reporter Ashli Lincoln that more needs to be done to get a handle on growing crime in the area.
“It is tragic, what happened today,” South Fulton Councilwoman Helen Z. Willis said of the shooting at the popular park. “As soon as I got finished speaking, I heard gunfire.”
South Fulton police say a man was shot and killed at Welcome All Park after an argument. His identity has not been released.
“I walked over and there was a young man lying on the ground slumped over in a pool of blood,” Willis said. “The violence must stop.”
Police say they have a person of interest in custody in this case.
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In downtown Atlanta, police are investigating after a body was dropped off with a gunshot wound at Grady Memorial Hospital on Sunday.
Police are still working to identify the person’s identity.
“These kids are killing each other and nobody is saying anything,” violence prevention specialist Bruce Griggs said.
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Police are still investigating a shooting from Saturday near Centennial Olympic Park that injured five teenagers.
Police have not said if any arrests have been made, but have beefed up patrols in the area.
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“These kids last night had a shootout on scooters, and when one of them got shot, he took his gun and carjacked somebody to get a ride to the hospital. What have we turned into?,” Griggs said.
Griggs has more than 20 years of experience in violence prevention among teens. He says this type of violence is at a high that he’s never seen before.
“It’s the worst I’ve seen, and the frightening part is, I see what’s coming,” he told Lincoln.
Numbers from the Gun Violence Archive reveal that deaths and injuries related to gun violence amongst teens increased from 126 across Georgia in 2020 to 148 in 2021. In the four months so far this year, 59 have been reported.
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