Four people, including an alleged gunman, were shot Tuesday in the food court of downtown Atlanta’s Peachtree Center, putting the office and retail complex on lockdown.
Police and Mayor Andre Dickens confirmed the shooting, which happened just before 3 p.m., and said that all four victims were alive.
“Four people shot,” Dickens tweeted on X. “One is the alleged original shooter, and he was shot. All involved are still alive.”
He said first responders were on the scene aiding the victims and told people to “avoid the area.”
The office towers and underground mall complex is blocks away from several hotels in Atlanta’s downtown. It’s also just a few blocks from Centennial Olympic Park, the World of Coca-Cola and AmericasMart, WXIA-TV noted.
The gunshots spooked mallgoers and workers alike, as one witness, Elizabeth Ingram, saw people being wheeled away on gurneys.
“You never know what can happen,” said the Chick-fil-A employee, who was emerging from the breakroom when she found herself diving to the floor at the sound of gunshots. “It just happened out of nowhere. It was so scary. My thought was I was never going to make it home to my son, and that scared me. My heart was beating so fast.”
Liliana Silva, the manager of sales and marketing at the Hard Rock Café Atlanta, was walking past the CVS Pharmacy attached to the center when “all of a sudden, an influx of people were sprinting out of there in all different directions,” she told WXIA.
Upon hearing that there was a shooter, she and her friends fled to the Hyatt, where they were locked down for about an hour.
Much of Peachtree Street and surrounding blocks were cordoned off with crime scene tape as emergency workers responded and police launched an investigation.
“The scene is still open and active as officers are working to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident,” Atlanta police said on social media, clarifying that several law enforcement agencies were “still actively working the scene” Tuesday afternoon and cautioning that any information released so far was preliminary and subject to change.
With News Wire Services
