A 15-year-old boy was shot Monday morning at a southwest Atlanta apartment complex, police said.
The shooting happened around 10:30 a.m. at Oakland City West End apartments in the 1100 block of Oakland Lane. The teen was shot in the arm and the bullet went into his stomach after two men in a white Kia pulled up next to him, Sgt. Michael Young with the Atlanta police aggravated assault unit said.
“The gentleman was outside with his friends hanging out when a white vehicle, a Kia, pulled up, asked him a question, then an argument ensued and then (someone in) the white Kia shot the young man,” Young said.
The teen, who is from Clayton County, was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital and is in surgery in critical condition, Young said. Police do not know what the shooter asked the teen or if the two suspects knew the victim.
Minnie Pearl, who has lived at the apartment complex for six years, said she called 911 as soon as she heard a gunshot and spotted the bleeding victim.
“I heard a shot and I heard somebody scream,” she said. “I saw a child, a kid lying on the floor bleeding. And when I walked over, I seen the blood coming from his arm.”
But Monday morning’s scene is nothing out of the ordinary for Pearl, who said there was another shooting two weeks ago and that gunshots are background noise.
“We go through this every day. We see this every day,” Pearl said. “They shoot all throughout the night, the day, broad daylight, 12 o’clock at night, and it be right there by my window.”
Another neighbor, Maria Parker, said more security in the area could curb the frequent gun violence, which she says prevents children from being able to play outside.
Police did not release any information about the suspects but said they are looking through camera footage in hopes that it caught the incident. Young said authorities are trying to determine if the victim is still in school.
Monday’s victim is one at least six teens shot in metro Atlanta this year. Earlier in March, 16-year-old Joshua Adetunji died after being shot near the Atlanta Fair on its opening weekend. A 14-year-old and 19-year-old were also injured in the incident.
In late January, 17-year-old Havord Head was fatally shot at The Commons apartments on Middleton Road. Investigators said they believed the shooting stemmed from a robbery involving narcotics.
Earlier that month, 15-year-old Kelvice Roberson Jr. was shot and killed at the Dunbar Neighborhood Center along Windsor Street.
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