ATLANTA — Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Mark Winne has learned that the gun found with the man accused in a shooting that killed a woman and injured four more may not have been registered.
Sources told Winne that Deion Patterson, 24, had a ghost gun without a serial number which makes it virtually untraceable.
Channel 2 Action News has spent the past year looking into ghost guns and the problems they can pose for police.
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Without a serial number, ghost guns can be difficult for police to trace where it came from and if it has been used in other crimes.
One source told Winne that the gun Patterson had with him when he was arrested in Cobb County appeared to have been made of parts that could be purchased online, including a polymer frame that requires more parts and assembly to be a functional gun.
Channel 2 Action News has not been able to confirm if this gun was the one used to shoot five people in Midtown Atlanta earlier this month.
A spokesman for the Georgia Public Defender Council sent a statement that read, “Mr. Patterson’s attorney Shawn Hoover said Patterson legally possessed every gun found at the time of his arrest.”
Winne asked defense attorney and former prosecutor Manny Arora, who is not involved in the Patterson case, if it is legal to own a ghost gun.
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“The law is very unclear on it. But for the most part, no, it is not illegal to have it,” Arora explained. “The rules for ghost guns, which are generally untraceable, were changed back in April of last year, in 2022, and it primarily applies just to sellers and retailers. They have to now start putting serial numbers on these things because the number of ghost guns used in violent crimes is going up.”
Police say Patterson opened fire in the waiting room of a Northside Hospital medical office.
He is being charged with the murder of 38-year-old Amy St. Pierre and shooting four other women, Lisa Glynn, Georgette Whitlow, Jazzmin Daniel and Alesha Hollinger, who range in age from 25 to 71. All four women have been released from the hospital.
“Mr. Patterson is a veteran who appears to suffer from mental health issues. He is presumed innocent until proven otherwise, and Mr. Hoover and his team continue to investigate the details of the charges while preparing a zealous and effective defense,” the Public Defender Council spokesperson said in an email.
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