ATlanTA — Police arrested a man for allegedly opening fire inside the waiting room of a medical facility in Atlanta on Wednesday, killing a woman and wounding four. Workers and others in a bustling commercial district took shelter for hours during the manhunt.
Authorities surrounded the downtown area of the city shortly after noon looking for the shooter. Police said in a statement that the suspect, who they identified as 24-year-old Deion Patterson, was arrested in Cobb County, just northwest of Atlanta.
Atlanta Deputy Sheriff Charles Hampton Jr. declined to discuss any details of the investigation or possible motives, saying, “Why he did what he did, all of that is still under investigation. “
Patterson had an appointment at a Northside Medical building and opened fire shortly after arriving in an assault that lasted about two minutes, law enforcement officials said at a news conference Wednesday night. Authorities said Patterson then went to a Shell gas station and retrieved a pickup truck that had run away and was left unattended.
News of the shooting sent workers and lunch-goers in the neighborhood, home to many office towers and high-rise apartments, sheltering in place for hours.
Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said a 39-year-old woman died at the scene of the shooting. The Fulton County medical examiner’s office identified her as Amy St. Pierre.
The four injured women – ages 25, 39, 56 and 71 – remained in critical but stable condition as of Wednesday night, according to Hampton, the deputy sheriff. Their names were not immediately released.
The shooting comes as cities across the US are ravaged by gun violence and mass shootings in 2023.
Patterson’s mother, Minyone Patterson, who police said accompanied her son to the medical office, told the Associated Press by phone that her son, a former Coast Guard, had “some uncertainty about the situation.” mental illness” due to medication the boy started taking on Friday.
She said her son wanted to take Ativan to deal with anxiety and depression but the Department of Veterans Affairs health system wouldn’t give it to him because they said it would be “too addictive”. She is a nurse and said she told them he would just take the correct dose.
“Those families, those families,” she said, beginning to sob. “They are hurting because they didn’t give my son his goddamn Ativan. Those families lost loved ones because he had a mental breakdown because they didn’t listen to me.”
She ended the call without saying what medication her son was taking.
“We are appalled and saddened to learn of the shootings taking place in Atlanta today,” Department of Veterans Affairs Press Secretary Terrence Hayes said in an emailed statement. “Due to patient privacy, we are unable to discuss Veterans’ personal information without written consent.”
In a statement, the US Coast Guard said Patterson joined the service in 2018 and was discharged in January. He was the mate of a second-rate electrician at the time.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens welcomed Patterson’s arrest and detention alive so he could be prosecuted.
“Right now, we have successfully ended a sad day,” said Dickens, advocating for stricter gun laws and emphasizing the importance of police training.
“I hope the city, the region is reassured that he is in custody, but I also hope that we will remain vigilant to continue to look to a future where individuals who should not own guns will not have guns, and that individuals are brought to justice, and we also deal with issues related to mental health or easy access to guns,” Dickens said.
Governor Brian Kemp said in a statement that he was “deeply heartbroken” by the shooting and prayed for the victims.
Cobb County Sheriff Stuart VanHoozer said technology played a huge role in finding suspects, along with Department of Transportation cameras and community members calling for information.
“Those tools are really what gives us the clues that we need to make this successful — and the people who get those clues,” says VanHoozer.
The pickup was found in a parking garage not far from the stadium where the Atlanta Braves played. Video broadcast by WSB-TV shows Patterson being arrested near a tennis court and swimming pool in a nearby apartment complex.
Around the time of the shooting, Cassidy Hale, a medical equipment representative, said she was driving to the facility to test machines in the building’s outpatient surgery center.
Hale saw the fire truck but didn’t realize anything was wrong until she parked the car and found the elevator was not working. Hale said she called the operating room manager, who told her there was an active shooter and that she should get back in her car.
Hale said police stopped her from leaving the garage and then checked each car and escorted her out for an interview.
She gathered with other staff members and patients in a building across the street, where she said “everyone was really shocked” and “trying to process what was going on.”
Immediately after the shooting, U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia took to the Senate floor to condemn gun violence and urge his colleagues to push for gun reform.
The Democrats said: “There have been so many mass shootings…sadly that we act as if this were a daily occurrence. “We act as if this is normal. It’s not normal.”
The Atlanta pastor added: “I shudder to say it, but the truth is, in a sense, it is only a matter of time before this kind of tragedy knocks on your door.”
Another US Senator from Georgia, Jon Ossoff, also a Democrat, echoed his colleague in a statement: “The level of gun violence in America today is unconscionable and unconscionable. acceptable, and policymakers at all levels have a responsibility to ensure public safety and long overdue implementation. to revolutionize.”
