Atlanta police are investigating after a fight inside a Lenox Square store escalated into a shooting that sent a man to the hospital Friday afternoon.
Few details have been released, but police spokesman Officer Anthony Grant said officers responded to a person shot call and found a man with a gunshot wound to his buttocks inside the new Apple store around 3 p.m. The store had just opened Friday after relocating from another location within the mall.
Police secured the exterior of the Apple and Nike stores with crime scene tape, and both businesses are closed for the time being as they investigate.
”I saw the police tape and didn’t know what was going on. I asked if I needed to go around and (the police) said the Apple store was closed,” Brandon Hughes told AJC.com from the scene. “When I asked why they said they couldn’t tell me.”
Authorities believe the victim, who was stable when he was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, was involved in a fight with a group of men, Grant said. One of the suspects fired his weapon and then fled the scene in what appeared to be a blue Chrysler Pacifica with a Georgia tag of CML8659, according to Grant.
“One suspect has been detained and is currently being interviewed as investigators work to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident,” Grant said. “The investigation is active and ongoing at this time.”
Bullets from the shooting went as far as shattering the window of a MARTA bus stop across the shopping plaza’s parking lot.
Credit: ADA WOOD / ADA.WOOD@AJC.COM
Credit: ADA WOOD / ADA.WOOD@AJC.COM
Friday’s incident was one of several shootings that have taken place at Lenox Square in the past year.
On Dec. 21, 2019, a Macy’s employee was shot in the stomach during an attempted carjacking in the mall’s parking deck. The two suspects in that robbery were arrested. Carolyn Gilbert, who survived the shooting, was traumatized.
“To be robbed like this? I could have died. I could have died,” Gilbert told AJC.com in February. “I’m an aunt and godmother. I could have died, and that’s something I will have to live with the rest of my life.”
On Jan. 18, an Atlanta police sergeant was alerted to an armed robbery in progress outside the mall’s food court. The sergeant responded and discovered one man holding another at gunpoint and ordered the armed man to drop the weapon. When he refused, the sergeant fired shots, striking the man, Deputy Chief Jeff Glazier said at the time.
The GBI investigated and determined the robbery “victim” had been involved in a crime. Two men were arrested and charged within hours, according to the GBI.
On Feb. 10, a man was shot after a “pre-arranged meeting” in the mall’s food court. That shooting took place after the group relocated to the parking lot, leaving one man injured. Police charged two people in the incident.
On March 8, an argument over a parking spot outside Lenox erupted into gunfire. Thuan Nguyen, 31, of Tennessee, was shot in the head and died at the scene. The suspect, Ricky James Lafargue, wasn’t caught until November in New York. Investigators are still seeking three other suspects believed to have been involved in the incident.
On Oct. 16, a man being robbed at the cash register inside Neiman Marcus pulled out a gun and fired shots. After the man helped identify two of the people who tried to rob him, investigators realized the robbery victim was wanted for a prior crime. Police arrested three suspects in the incident.
With its high-end retail shops and upscale dining choices, Lenox Square has long been the landmark of Atlanta’s Buckhead district. There’s also an Atlanta Police Department mini-precinct at the mall.
— Please return to AJC.com for updates.
