A gunman opened fire in the Underground Atlanta entrance to the Five Points MARTA station at rush-hour Thursday, killing a man and frightening commuters and pedestrians alike.
“Obviously, it is a heightened concern when we have a lot of other people about,” Atlanta police Capt. Michael O’Connor said. “It is somewhat surprising that such a brazen crime would occur in an area that is so saturated with law enforcement.”
Police have not released the name of the victim, who died after being transported to Grady Memorial Hospital. He was shot around 6 p.m., but it’s unclear whether any other commuters were in danger.
The shooting still frightened Anthony Grant, a pedestrian across Peachtree Street from the rail station, who said he heard three shots.
“I was really scared and shaken up,” Grant said. “It is right around rush-hour time — these people don’t care, they don’t care about nobody’s life.
“It makes no sense, gun violence. They need to, you know, stop.”
Detectives believe the man was shot in the hallway that leads from the Underground entertainment district to the MARTA rail station, then ran through the glass doors into the station and fell on the sidewalk by Peachtree Street, O’Connor said.
Grant, however, said he believed he saw the shooting happen outside the rail station.
“He just pulled out the gun and then shot the guy,” Grant said. “I think they were arguing; I don’t know over what though.
“I saw the gun and then I heard the gunfire.”
O’Connor did not disclose to reporters why he believed the shooting at least started in the Underground. MARTA police arrested a “person of interest” after a foot chase and turned him over to Atlanta detectives, who still don’t know if the man is the shooter, O’Connor said.
“The truth of the matter is, there is a lot that is just not known,” he said.
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