A 13-year-old boy who was leaving a skating rink was one of two people killed in separate shootings across Atlanta on Saturday, according to authorities.
Around 11:30 p.m., Atlanta police were called to a parking lot at 3351 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, just outside the Perimeter in the Adamsville neighborhood of southwest Atlanta. The lot is home to a Popeyes restaurant and a Domino’s Pizza.
There, they found a 13-year-old boy with multiple gunshot wounds, according to police. He was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He was identified by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office as Deshon Dubose.
Investigators believe he was with a group of teenagers who were at the Cascade Family Skating rink prior to the shooting. The rink is located just behind the lot where Dubose was shot, police said.
No other details have been released by police.
In a statement Sunday evening, District 10 Council member Andrea L. Boone, whose district includes Adamsville, called the shooting “deeply disturbing” and abnormal for the area.
“This is a somber time for our community as a young boy’s life was tragically cut short,” she said. “The skating rink has in many ways been a safe haven for families. It has been that way for decades because Cascade Family Skating and the Alexander family have poured love and care into this treasure of southwest Atlanta.”
“Any loss of life is felt in our community, but for such a young boy to fall victim to this here, it is very tragic,” she added.
On Monday afternoon, Jack Logan stood on the side of the road near the crime scene with a megaphone and sign that read “Put Down The Guns Now Young People Organization.” He is the founder of the South Carolina organization that advocates for youth gun safety and tours the country handing out free gun locks. Several young men and businesses had already approached him to ask for gun locks Monday, he said.
Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC
Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC
Logan heard about the shooting late Sunday night and chose to make the drive to Atlanta.
“This has been a shock to me,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I want people to join up with law enforcement ... not so much to find out who did it, but to educate parents to teach their children, these little boys, not to pick up guns.”
Just a few hours before Dubose was shot, around 6 p.m., another shooting was reported on the other side of the city. Police responded to the 3400 block of Lakeside Drive, not far from Lenox Square. When they got there, they found a man with a gunshot wound, police said in a statement. He was pronounced dead at the scene and later identified by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office as 25-year-old Daryn Wooten.
A male suspect, who has not been publicly identified, was located and taken into custody, the statement read.
Investigators believe the gunfire stemmed from an argument between the suspect and the victim. The two appeared to know each other, according to the statement. Police have not shared any other details in that case, and they have not said if the suspect has been charged.
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