One person is dead and two others are injured after a fight outside a Midtown lounge led to a police shootout Sunday morning.
The shooting happened outside the Up Lounge on Pine Street just after 4 a.m., Atlanta police said in a statement. Investigators said a fight broke out inside the lounge and a security officer got involved in an attempt to settle it.
At that point, both a customer and the security officer pulled out their weapons, and shots rang out, Channel 2 Action News reported. It is not clear who fired the first shots.
An Atlanta police officer working an off-duty job near the lounge heard the commotion and went to the scene, police spokesman Officer Steve Avery confirmed. The officer fired his weapon during the incident. He was not injured.
Frederick Demor Asberry, 25, of Douglasville, was killed in the shooting, GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles said.
Byron Heron, 33, and Andrew Smith, 30, were also injured, she said. Heron was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in critical condition. Smith’s injuries were not life-threatening.
Authorities found several guns at the scene of the shooting, Miles said.
“It is unknown at this time which weapons are associated with the gunshot wounds of the three victims,” she said.
The GBI is still investigating the incident, Miles said.
It’s the 85th officer-involved shooting the GBI has investigated this year, Miles confirmed.
It is one of at least five fatal shootings to occur at an Atlanta nightclub within a month.
Less than two weeks ago, Chicago rapper King Von and another man were killed in a shooting outside a hookah lounge, AJC.com previously reported. King Von, whose real name was Dayvon Bennett, and 34-year-old Mark Blakely were both shot when gunfire erupted outside the Monaco Hookah Lounge. Four other people were injured in the incident, police said.
Police charged 22-year-old Timothy Leeks with murder in the fatal shooting.
On Oct. 18, 35-year-old Andre Pierce was shot multiple times while leaving a Midtown nightclub, police previously said. He was found dead in a parking lot in the 100 block of Brady Avenue.
Less than two weeks later on Oct. 29, an employee of the Members Only lounge on Ralph McGill Boulevard was fatally shot after an argument over the admission price, police previously said. When officers arrived at the scene about 2:20 a.m., they found 27-year-old Caleb Culbreath with a gunshot wound to the chest, Avery said. He was taken to Grady, where he died.
Three days later, a man was fatally shot after a fight broke out at a Forest Park strip club, officials said. Officers arrived to find Wayne James Jr. with a single gunshot wound to the chest. He was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital but died of his injuries.
Three people are sought in connection with the shooting.
— Please return to AJC.com for updates.
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