Georgia State University’s president said he is looking into bolstering security following the latest deadly shooting near the downtown Atlanta campus.
M. Brian Blake’s comments came after a 21-year-old man was shot to death Sunday afternoon when fighting between two groups escalated to gunfire, police said. No one involved in the shooting has been identified as students or staff of the university, officials said.
“While the individuals involved were not affiliated with the university, we know these acts of violence affect us all, especially those that happen in close proximity to our campus facilities,” Blake said.
Atlanta police were called just before 12:45 p.m. to 120 Piedmont Avenue, an address listed for the Mix Apartments, an off-campus student housing center for GSU.
Officers arrived within three minutes and found a man suffering from several gunshot wounds about 500 feet from a RaceTrac gas station on Piedmont Avenue. Blake said an officer who had been added this year to monitor the RaceTrac was on scene and responded immediately.
The victim, identified as Javare Shakir-Fulford by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office, was not breathing and died at the scene, police said.
A police spokesperson said they didn’t believe the incident happened on GSU’s campus. Blake said he spoke with gas station officials afterward, along with Atlanta and campus police.
A GSU student, 24-year-old Joshua Igbinijesu, was shot and killed in December 2022 at the same RaceTrac. Then in October 2023, four people were shot in the area, including two students who were injured and a 19-year-old woman, De’Asia Hart, who died.
After that shooting, Blake said the university would work with Atlanta police to find a way to make campus more secure.
In December, a person was shot to death and another was injured after gunfire was again prompted by fighting just south of the gas station on Piedmont Avenue between John Wesley Dobbs and Auburn avenues.
“We have made recent enhancements that added more officer monitoring and cameras, reoriented our building entrances and provided staff training, and we will assess this incident to make more impactful changes,” Blake said. “We will continue to make strides in enhancing and defining our campus and securing our spaces.”
A motive for Sunday’s shooting is unclear, police said, and no details have been released about a possible suspect.
An investigation is ongoing.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
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