A man died Wednesday afternoon after he was shot multiple times outside the Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter in downtown Atlanta.
An argument between two men escalated about 1:45 p.m. when one man allegedly shot the other multiple times, Lt. Charles Hampton said.
The victim, a man in his mid 30s, was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital where he died, he said.
The alleged shooter is in police custody. His name has not been released.
Police are not sure of a motive.
It is unclear whether or not the victim and alleged gunman are connected to the shelter.
Heyward Wescott, owner of Custom Signs Today, said the alleged gunman just walked away after he shot the victim twice in the head.
“Everybody who witnessed the shooting came out onto the street,” he said. “We just knew something was up.”
Wescott’s business has sat next to the shelter for nearly 20 years and is no stranger to shootings near the shelter.
In August 2015, a man was killed at a club near the shelter in a similar incident.
The Metro Task Force for the Homeless is in a legal battle to regain possession of the shelter's foreclosed property, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported. The building was placed in foreclosure after the task force didn't pay its bills.
A judge ruled in November a jury must decide whether the building sale was illegal and if business leaders played a role in the sale.
Wescott said he hopes the shelter closes down, but not at the expense of a life.
“I think we’re a little bit further from political pressure to making this thing close down,” he said. “It shouldn’t take someone dying.”
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