ATLANTA — Police are investigating the sixth shooting at Lenox Square since last holiday season.
Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes learned from police that most of the shooting suspects are from out of town.
Despite all of the shootings at the mall since last year, this parking lot was packed Monday with shoppers ahead of the holiday season.
Fernandes spoke to some shoppers who believe that people are flocking to the mall, and other malls in metro Atlanta because there aren’t many restrictions. The mall hours are the same as last year when there wasn’t a pandemic
“It used to be a really nice mall, you know?” said shopper Erica Means.
Before online shopping became a regular thing for Means, she was always shopping at the Buckhead mall
But when there was a shooting last holiday season in December, and then another one in January, another one in February and then another shooting in October, she stayed away. That’s until the Apple Store opened up last week.
“So this was my first time at Lenox in like a long time – probably like two years,” Means said.
Everything was fine but two days after she was there, there was another shooting that started in the Apple Store.
RELATED STORIES:
- Police investigate shooting at Apple Store inside Lenox Square
- New video shows man open fire in the middle of Neiman Marcus to stop robbers, police say
- Man shot in parking lot at Lenox Square, police say
- New twist on attempted robbery, shooting at Lenox Square
“It’s sad – it really is because it’s a great mall, you know?” Means said.
Police are still looking for the most recent shooters who fired at least 35 shots in the parking lot.
But in the cases where they did arrest shooting suspects. They were from Miami, Detroit, New York and south Georgia.
Means believes troublemakers are coming here for the high-end stores and the freedom to be in the mall until 9 p.m.
“Even though I do think it could happen anywhere, I think I’ll just be more careful, I guess – being out and about knowing that people are coming from all over to do whatever. So it may make people stay In the house a bit more,” Means said.
Police want to remind you to be aware of your surroundings at all times. One of shootings started when someone had just bought something from a high-end store and the suspects tried to rob him.
This browser does not support the video element.