Separate weekend shootings involving young people left at least two dead and eight people injured, including a 2-year-old, across metro Atlanta.
The spate of shootings came just two weeks after a violent weekend saw at least six youths, ranging in ages from 8 to 18, shot in the area.
Multiple victims were reported in an incident in a Douglas County neighborhood, where a “Sweet 16″ house party attended by over 100 teenagers erupted in gunfire late Saturday night, according to authorities. It took place on Sitka Drive near Douglasville, authorities told Channel 2 Action News.
Douglas sheriff’s deputies got the 911 call around 11 p.m., and when they arrived, they found two people dead and six others injured, the sheriff’s office confirmed in a statement Sunday. Officials said the shooting stemmed from a confrontation.
Capt. Trent Wilson of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office told The Associated Press that the two who died were under 18 years old. Officials have not publicly shared the names or specific ages of the victims.
Aereal Gardner, who lives next door said she and her family suddenly heard gunshots and ducked for cover in their own home, Channel 2 reported.
“My kids was on the floor. They were scared,” she told the news station.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Another neighbor told the station she lives across the street and rushed over to help one of the victims, but it was too late.
Earlier the same evening, a 17-year-old boy was shot multiple times near Mercedes-Benz Stadium, according to Atlanta police.
Officers were called to the 440 block of Markham Street in the Castleberry Hill neighborhood of downtown Atlanta, about a block from the stadium, around 7:45 p.m. There, they found the teen with multiple gunshot wounds, police said in a statement.
The teen was described as alert when he was rushed to a hospital, police said. No other details were released.
By Sunday morning, Atlanta police got another call, this time about a 2-year-old being shot in the hand at a bus stop in the Hunter Hills neighborhood.
Investigators said the toddler was with his mother when he was shot during an attempted robbery sometime before 8:30 a.m.
The boy’s injury was described as non-life-threatening.
Police did not release any other details in that case.
The weekend continued the latest wave of gun violence affecting children in recent years, with firearms now considered the No. 1 cause of death for children in the United States, according to a 2022 Kaiser Family Foundation analysis.
Anyone with information on the Douglas County incident is asked to contact Douglas County Sheriff’s Office investigator Merlene Jean at 770-920-4916.
