Several Atlanta University Center schools said Monday they are increasing their police presence in and around the campuses after a weekend shooting during a homecoming celebration wounded four people — including three students — near Clark Atlanta University.
Clark Atlanta police Chief Debra A. Williams said in a video it is increasing its patrols, along with Atlanta police, in the area.
“The safety of our students remains our top priority as we continue to work with the city of Atlanta for solutions to senseless violence impacting innocent students and residents,” Williams said in the video.
Authorities released little information as of Monday afternoon about the investigation into the shooting that occurred shortly after midnight Sunday that wounded two Clark Atlanta students, another student and a fourth person aside from saying the suspects are not students. The four people wounded had nonlife-threatening injuries, police said.
The incident took place near the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library, where dozens of students were hanging out after Clark Atlanta’s homecoming football game. The crowd had been listening to a DJ in front of the library when the shots were fired, Atlanta police said. Clark Atlanta police have described the incident as a drive-by shooting, but have not discussed a potential motive.
Morehouse and Spelman colleges, both of which are anticipating thousands of people coming onto their campuses this week for their Spelhouse homecoming celebrations, are also increasing security measures in the wake of the shooting, school officials said.
Morehouse had a clear bag policy for anyone entering its homecoming events before the shooting.
The weekend incident has generated renewed discussion about security near the campuses. Three years ago, four students were injured in a shooting at a block party in the same area as Sunday’s homecoming shooting, just outside the library. Two Spelman College students and two Clark Atlanta University students, all women, sustained non-life-threatening injuries when someone opened fire into a crowd.
Several students last month reported a rash of car break-ins of parked vehicles on Parsons Street, near the location of this weekend’s shooting.
Three prominent national gun safety groups released a joint statement Monday demanding additional legislation and safety measures, noting the shooting near Clark Atlanta and three other incidents near other college campuses this past weekend near James Madison University in Virginia, Livingstone College in North Carolina and Ohio State University.
“We shouldn’t have to live in fear of gun violence on our campuses or in our communities,” Jackie Azah, a volunteer with Students Demand Action in Georgia and a fourth-year student at Clark Atlanta University said in a statement. “We won’t accept a reality where shots can ring out at any moment, and we will continue to fight until we can all walk around our campuses or attend celebrations without worrying about our safety.”
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