Last updated: may 6, 2015 at 12:50 p.m.
Police are investigating two shootings that occurred in Underground Atlanta last week on Thursday and Saturday. The most recent incident involved a man shot multiple times on May 2, according to the Atlanta Police Department (APD).
The May 2 Underground Atlanta shooting
APD Officer Garrison Pierre found a gunshot victim on foot at the corner of Peachtree Street and Martin Luther King Street after hearing shots fired, according to the APD’s official incident report.
Pierre instructed the bleeding victim, later identified as 25-year-old Khiry Clemons, to stop running so he could provide assistance, according to Pierre.
However, Clemons fled the scene, threw a backpack into a nearby trashcan and collapsed on the ground shortly after witnesses and nearby cameras confirmed, according to the report.
Eyewitness Keshunna Riley said she was with Clemons during the shooting and claims the shooter was a black male in a grey pick-up truck, according to the report.
Pierre said after later inspection of the discarded backpack, he found several bags of marijuana, a pocket scale and a stolen, loaded firearm.
The victim was arrested and transported to Grady Hospital, the report stated.
The investigation is ongoing, but the suspect may not be stable enough to provide information, according to Sergeant Gregory Lyon of the APD’s Public Affairs Unit.
“He may not talk to us,” Lyon said. “The victim was seriously injured and probably hasn’t been able to make a formal statement to investigators.”
Georgia State student Quyana Barrow feels these incidents speak to the complexity of attending a school in the heart of Atlanta.
“It’s complicated attending a university with an open campus and being in an urban area,” she said. “We want to feel safe but also be aware of what’s going on around us, which I think is important in an environment like this.”
Georgia State student Amanda Morris said the incident was tragic, but that she feels relatively safe on the school’s nearby campus.
“That was a horrific incident,” she said. “But I feel safe with the amount of GSU campus police I see present.”
The April 30 Underground Atlanta shooting
Two days before , Alexia Christian, was arrested and placed in the back of a patrol car by APD Officers Jeffery Cook and Omar Thyme, on suspicions of car theft, according to the statement by Officer Ralph Woolfolk IV with APD’s Public Affairs Unit.
While officers were in the front of the car, Christian freed one hand from handcuffs, produced a firearm and fired three shots at police, according to the statement.
Cook and Thyme both exited the car and returned 10 shots at Christian through the car’s rear window, according to the statement.
Christian was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital, where she later died from injuries, according to Woolfolk.
Atlanta Police Chief George Turner said it is clear to APD that the officer did not search her prior to putting her in the back of the car, according to a press conference held Friday.
APD policy states that a male officer can pat down a female suspect with the back of his hand, while a female officer is present, according to Turner in the press conference.
“However, a thorough search by a same-sex officer should be manifested prior to transport,” he said in the conference.
He also said at this time, he does not feel Christian was patted down with witnesses.
Woolfolk said the incident is under criminal and internal investigation.
“Those entities involved are the APD Homicide Unit, APD Office of Professional Standards, and the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office,” he said.
Cheryl Stegall, witness to the Saturday shooting, expressed concern to WSB-TV regarding the safety of the Underground Atlanta area.
“We need to stop this violence. This just happened this week downtown where a female was shot. It’s getting to the point where it’s not even safe to come downtown and bring out kids,” Stegall told WSB-TV.
However, Barrow said the incidents shouldn’t necessarily be of concern to students in the area.
“The amount of police in the surrounding area were able to contain both situations quickly,” she said. “And I think they will be even more vigilant going forward.”
