Crime, fires and overall unsafe conditions have plagued Brannon Hill Condominiums in DeKalb County for decades. On Sunday, crime struck again.
DeKalb County police responded to the complex on Old Hampton Drive and found five people had been shot, three fatally.
A sixth person later arrived at a local hospital in serious condition. None of the victims have been identified. Ofieo Ojego, 25, has been arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault, police said. Investigators are looking for an additional suspect who faces three counts of murder.
Sunday’s shooting comes after Aziz Hassan, 60, was shot and killed at the complex in November and after a massive blaze left multiple units severely damaged in January. Deen Media Center, a Lilburn-based nonprofit, chronicled its problems in a YouTube video titled “Worst Neighborhood in America?”
Credit: Jozsef Papp
Credit: Jozsef Papp
A Brannon Hill resident who wished to not be identified, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that shootings are common in the area. The resident has been living at the complex for a year because the rent is cheap but doesn’t feel safe.
“Nobody likes it here because it’s very dangerous. I have no other options,” the resident said.
Trash and blighted buildings could be seen all around the property when an AJC reporter visited on Monday. Potholes mar the roads around the complex and the parking lots contain cars without license plates.
DeKalb County District 6 Commissioner Ted Terry said has been trying without luck to get the county to take action since he was mayor of Clarkston.
“For the record, I have been asking the CEO for six months for a strategy to address the extremely dangerous conditions at Brannon Hill. I’ve received no response,” Terry said Monday. “This is disheartening, because the warning signs were there and the concerns from myself as the commissioner for this area were ignored. This could have been prevented.”
In a statement sent Monday morning, DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond said he “has directed Police Chief Mirtha Ramos to allocate all necessary resources to investigate the deadly shootings at Brannon Hill Condominium on May 8 to bring those responsible to justice.” In a later email, Thurmond’s office described the shooting as a senseless killing and stressed that the safety and lives of citizens is a responsibility the county’s leadership takes very seriously.
In terms of Brannon Hill, the email said, the county has been trying to address problems at the complex through court orders and law enforcement.
While Clarkston mayor, from 2013 to 2020, Terry said he asked county commissioners to take more deliberate actions on Brannon Hill since it was part of the Clarkston Community but out of the town’s police or code enforcement jurisdiction.
The county did take action in July 2017 by demolishing properties at Brannon Hill after many buildings were left vacated and neglected, removing 1,200 tons of debris from two destructed buildings. Two other buildings representing 40 units were demolished in December 2017.
Many of the buildings had deteriorated over the years due to fires and lack of repairs and had become a haven for criminal activity and homelessness, the AJC previously reported. In 2019, DeKalb County demolished 56 dilapidated and neglected units.
From July 2017 to May 2020, 124 blighted units were demolished to remove debris and address public safety concerns, according to DeKalb County. Thurmond created a task force in 2017 to deal with blighted properties in the county. In December 2020, around 700 dumped tires were removed by the county.
In February, a team of Community Development staff and volunteers canvassed Brannon Hill to identify and assist homeless persons in the area.
According to DeKalb County, a task force was never put in place to address issues at Brannon Hill specifically but a Blight Task Force looks at the status of blight throughout the county and studies the nature of the problem. The problem with Brannon Hill remains that it’s a private property managed by a homeowner’s association.
As the chair of the public safety committee, Terry said he plans to have Brannon Hill as the top agenda item when the committee meets at 2:15 p.m. May 16. The ideal solution, he said, would be to relocate every remaining resident and condemn the entire property.
“We have the resources now. We have the power to protect our community,” he said. “We simply must act. I’m not going to give up.”
Credit: Jozsef Papp
Credit: Jozsef Papp
Gregory Adams, who visited the complex Monday, said he was appalled to learn about the deadly shooting. He had been in the area cleaning up with other volunteers about three weeks ago.
“It is a shame that this is happening,” he said.
Adams, who is running for the District 7 commissioner seat in DeKalb County, said the county must hold the landlords and owners of the condos responsible.
“We need to come together and rally together as a community,” he said. “If anyone knows of the individuals that are doing the shooting, whether they are friends or family members, report them, turn them in.”
Anyone with information on the shooting can contact the DeKalb County Police Homicide Assault Unit at 770-724-7850.
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