A man was killed in an apparent shootout overnight at a northwest Atlanta home, one of three deadly shootings in the area in a matter of hours.
Atlanta police said the shootout happened just before midnight Thursday on the front porch of a home in the 600 block of Simmons Street, just off Hollowell Parkway. The gunfire started in the street and continued at the home.
A nearby officer heard the shots and arrived at the scene within minutes, police told Channel 2 Action News.
“Officers arrived right after the call came in to 911,” Lt. LeAnne Browning said.
They found a man in his 40s in the front doorway and rushed him to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he later died. He has not been identified, but family members said he was a father of four.
“He took care of his kids,” the victim’s brother, who identified himself as Chris, told AJC.com. “They were all he had.”
Police don’t know how many people were involved in the shooting, the news station reported.
“There was multiple, multiple rounds in the street,” Browning said.
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
Family members gathered outside the home Friday morning to pray for the victim and grieve his loss. His brother said he doesn’t know why the man was shot, and he doubts he’ll ever have answers.
He never bothered anyone and stayed to himself, his brother said.
“If anybody knows anything ... I’m begging them, urging,” he said. “I just need to know something.”
The Simmons Street shootout was the third in a series of deadly shootings in northwest Atlanta within a span of nearly four hours Thursday.
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Trayvon Muhammad, 17, of Atlanta, was found shot to the chest and the leg about 8 p.m. in the 3000 block of Delmar Lane on Thursday night and later died at a local hospital. Police have arrested Tremayne Smith, 36, of Atlanta, on a murder charge.
Then, about 11 p.m., 30-year-old Deonta Wallace was shot in the parking lot of the Verbena Garden apartments. Responding officers found the man dead between two cars.
The crime scenes stretch from Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard to Hollowell Parkway.
“Gun violence in our communities is deeply concerning and three shooting deaths in such a short period of time is unacceptable,” police spokeswoman Officer Lisa Bender told AJC.com. “There is no indication that these shootings are related, rather they appear to be independent acts of violence. Our homicide investigators are among the best in the business and we are confident that they will identify the offenders and get them off the streets.”
Police said following Smith’s arrest that investigations into all three incidents continue, and officers “remain committed to finding all who are responsible for these deaths.”
