State authorities are still investigating days after gunfire erupted at a massive block party in Atlanta, leading to an officer-involved shooting and a man’s death. But local police are trying to combat social media posts they say are prematurely proclaiming the officer’s guilt.
Atlanta police said the officer answered with gunfire Sunday when two people in the crowd began shooting at each other. When the crowd parted, 38-year-old Gabriel Parker was discovered to have been shot, police said. He died at the scene.
Because the officer fired his weapon, the GBI has been asked to investigate. While neither the state agency nor Atlanta police has definitively determined who shot whom, within hours social media posts surfaced claiming Parker was killed while trying to break up an argument.
Credit: Devin Barrington-Ward
Credit: Devin Barrington-Ward
“(Parker) was a 38-year-old Black father who was just trying to de-escalate a fight when he was gunned down by an officer who shot into the crowd,” Devin Barrington-Ward, who is running for the Atlanta City Council, wrote on Facebook.
“Police brutality doesn’t keep us safe. Real criminals don’t stop endangering public safety because the police are roughing up residents. Our city has a police brutality problem.”
In a firm response, Atlanta police Chief Rodney Bryant called the social media claims a “false narrative about APD officers and our agency.”
“Speaking on incidents without all the facts, and without the investigation results, is irresponsible,” he said in an internal communication released by the department. “Stoking division and more police vs. citizen sentiment shows a lack of regard for the safety and well-being of this city.”
The incident happened early Sunday at a reunion for former tenants of the Bowen Homes public housing project, which was Atlanta’s last standing housing project when it was demolished in 2009.
The officer was proactively patrolling the “large reunion gathering,” which had amassed a crowd of about 1,000 near the intersection of James Jackson Parkway and Hightower Road in northwest Atlanta, according to police. About 1 a.m., shots rang out.
The officer heard several gunshots before he returned fire, Deputy Chief Timothy Peek said.
“At this time it is unclear who shot whom, but two people sustained gunshot wounds,” Atlanta police previously said in a statement. “One person was transported to the hospital in stable condition and the second was pronounced dead at the scene. The officer was not injured.”
Parker’s body was taken to the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy. A vigil was held Sunday evening to commemorate his life.
An update on the other gunshot victim was not provided.
“We were able to determine that there were several firearms discarded or left on the actual scene,” Peek said. The GBI said it was processing two handguns.
The fatal shooting came as the police department was already struggling to combat a surge in violent and deadly crime that has gripped the city for more than a year.
In 2020, Atlanta police opened 157 homicide investigations — up from 99 the previous year, and the most new cases it’s had in one year for more than two decades. As of July 22 of this year, the department has opened 79 new homicide investigations, up from 67 at the same time last year, according to the department’s crime data.
For months, Atlanta police have pointed to an inability to solve interpersonal arguments as the cause of many of the shootings.
“The number of people who lack conflict management skills, and who opt to take a life, risk going to prison and abandoning their family and their freedom, too often over trivial things, is shocking,” Atlanta police previously said in a statement. “The Atlanta Police Department has always been committed to reducing crime and keeping our streets safe, but police cannot be arbitrators for every argument.”
Sunday’s fatal shooting also happened within a day of Atlanta police launching an investigation into the conduct of an officer caught on camera seemingly kicking a woman in the head while she was handcuffed.
That officer and another officer who failed to intervene were both “relieved from duty” Monday.
Atlanta city councilman Antonio Brown, who is running for mayor, said the incidents highlight “the importance of reimagining our public safety system.”
“Rest In Peace Gabriel Parker,” Brown wrote on Facebook. “My condolences are with you and your loved ones. I ask that everyone remain peaceful as these investigations move forward.”
Bryant said that the police shooting, while tragic, was a response to an active shooter situation and may have “reduced the potential for further harm.”
“Having to discharge a weapon is not something officers wake up and just decide to do,” he said. “Each incident must be reviewed based on the circumstances, evidence, and the law. We trust the GBI will do a thorough review and we will accept their findings regardless of the outcome.”
The GBI has not said if the officer’s shots are believed to have hit anyone. The investigation is ongoing.
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