Two teenagers have been arrested on murder charges in the death of a 16-year-old shot outside her Atlanta high school, police said Friday afternoon.
The arrests were announced one day after Atlanta officers began their Operation Heatwave initiative, aimed at reducing violence during the summer months.
During Memorial Day weekend on May 28, Bre’Asia Powell was shot around 2:30 a.m. during a gathering outside Benjamin E. Mays High School, where she was a star athlete and strong student. She was one of two teenagers Atlanta police found wounded at the end of a driveway outside the school, where an unauthorized gathering had taken place. The other shooting victim was taken to a hospital and survived. Bre’Asia died from her injuries.
The first arrest was made in the case on June 16, according to Atlanta Police Sgt. John Chafee. Jaquan Withers, 18, who was already in the Fulton County jail on unrelated charges, was charged with felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, Chafee said. He remained Friday in jail.
On Thursday, investigators arrested Willie Dennis, 19.
Dennis was wanted out of Jackson County, Georgia, on an unrelated theft warrant. Officers assigned to Operation Heatwave located Dennis traveling in an SUV and were able to conduct a traffic stop and take him into custody. Dennis was booked into the Fulton jail on charges of felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He also remained in jail Friday.
Recordings of 911 calls detailed a frantic scene the morning shots were fired.
“Somebody got shot!” one person told the operator, as others were heard crying and shouting.
“It was a shootout! It was a shootout!” someone yelled in the background during the call.
Bre’Asia was able to speak after the shooting and unlocked her cell phone so friends could summon help, a family friend later said. Those around her attempted to apply pressure to her wounds, but she had lost a lot of blood, the 911 callers said. She died at Grady Memorial Hospital.
Bre’Asia was one of four teenagers shot across metro Atlanta over the holiday weekend. Hours after her death Charles Brown, 15, was shot at a friend’s home in Cobb County, according to police. He later died from his injuries.
Getting guns out of the hands of young people is among the goals of Atlanta police, along with other metro police departments.
APD Special Enforcement Captain Ralph Woolfolk said Thursday as the summer months continue and children are out of school, parents should make sure they know what their children are doing.
“We need for parents to wake up and pay attention to what their children are doing this summer,” Woolfolk said. “There are places to go, there are jobs that are being offered to our youth. There are places to spend positive time and interaction with mentors and all kinds of resources that have been allocated for our youth.”
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