ATLANTA — Atlanta police confirmed a man is dead after yet another shooting near a fast-food restaurant in northwest Atlanta.
Officers heard gunshots in the 800 block of MLK Jr. Drive by the Chick-fil-A around 9 p.m. Friday night.
When they responded, the officers came across a “running gun battle,” according to Atlanta Deputy Chief Charles Hampton Jr.
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Hampton said the officers told 35-year-old Willie Williams, who was shooting, to drop his weapon. The officers said Williams did not, and they returned fire at him. Williams died on the scene.
Atlanta police requested the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to take over the scene and figure out who fired the deadly shot.
“Right now, it is unknown if the injury was a result of the officers’ gunfire due to the fact that he was actively engaged in the previous gun battle,” Hampton said.
On Saturday afternoon, the GBI identified Williams as the man who died in the shooting.
Williams was taken to the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy.
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This is the third shooting that Atlanta police has responded to in the area since Wednesday.
Less than 0.2 miles away from Friday’s shooting, someone shot a 61-year-old KFC employee outside the restaurant on the corner of MLK Jr. Drive and Joseph E. Lowery Blvd.
It happened around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday night. Investigators believe the employee was on his break and got caught in the crossfire. He remains in critical condition but stable, according to police.
On Thursday afternoon, police responded to a deadly shooting a mile up the road in the 700 block of Joseph E. Boone Blvd. Authorities said they found a man with a gunshot wound outside a plaza that holds a neighborhood market and dry cleaner.
Police arrested a suspect on the scene.
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