A man died early Sunday after he was shot multiple times while leaving a west Midtown nightclub, according to police.
Investigators said 35-year-old Andre Pierce was found shot in a parking lot in the 1000 block of Brady Avenue about 3:20 a.m.
Pierce was leaving the Compound Nightclub when he was shot, Atlanta police spokesman Officer Steve Avery said. The circumstances that led to the shooting are not clear. Pierce was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he died.
Police have not identified any suspects and no one is in custody in connection with the shooting, Avery said. An investigation is ongoing.
Pierce’s death marked the 113th homicide in Atlanta this year. There were 99 in 2019.
In a recent interview, interim police Chief Rodney Bryant was asked about the spike in shootings and homicides across the city this year. Bryant said the recent increase in violence is something police are seeing in major cities across the U.S., not just in Atlanta.
“I wouldn’t say that criminals are getting more brazen. I think what we’re recognizing through this COVID period is that there’s much more difficulty in people being able to have conflict resolution,” he said, adding that criminals have been violent for decades and “this isn’t a new phenomenon.”
"I think that what we are seeing during this unique time in our lifetime with this COVID pandemic is people are just a little less able to resolve a level of conflict,” Bryant said.
According to Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, crime in the city is down about 20% overall, despite the uptick in homicides. The mayor said she is hopeful the city has turned a corner.
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