Police are investigating after a body was discovered Sunday night behind a southwest Atlanta day care center.

A passerby called police about 10:10 p.m. after spotting the man’s body lying behind the AllStarz Academy Day Care on Delowe Drive, according to an Atlanta police spokesman.

“On scene officers found a deceased adult male,” Officer Steve Avery said in a statement. “The victim appeared to have been shot.”

He was later identified by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office as 28-year-old Michael Denson of Atlanta.

It is the seventh homicide police have investigated within a 5-mile radius in southwest Atlanta since the beginning of the month. Four men were killed in three separate shootings Dec. 1 along Campbellton and Fairburn roads, and another was discovered dead Dec. 4 on Kimberly Road.

Earlier Sunday, a man was killed after an argument escalated to a shooting outside a Chevron station on Sylvan Road, according to police.

Investigators have said they do not believe the incidents are related.

We are working to learn more about the latest homicide.

— Please return to AJC.com for updates.