A second shooting in less than a week has rocked the Ashley Cascade apartment complex in SW Atlanta, following an incident that left a 3-year-old child injured. According to FOX 5 Atlanta, a male victim was shot late Wednesday night and sustained a non-life-threatening injury to his lower extremity. Police arrived at the scene in the 1300 block of Kimberly Way SW around 10:36 p.m. on Feb. 21 and the victim was promptly transported to Grady Memorial Hospital.
Initial investigation suggests that the victim and the shooter were acquainted. While specifics of the altercation are still under scrutiny, no arrests have been reported so far. This event echoes a chillingly similar scenario from February 19, where an toddler was wounded by gunfire at the same location. "It could’ve been my grandchildren out here playing," a resident, Joya Poole, expressed in an interview with Channel 2 Action News, highlighting the community's anxiety around the recurrence of such incidents.
Statistics compiled by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as part of their "Dangerous Dwellings" investigation, label Ashley Cascade apartments among 272 of Atlanta's most hazardous complexes. Over the span from 2017 to mid-2023, Ashley Cascade has experienced 248 crimes, encompassing three homicides, 44 aggravated assaults, and a series of other serious criminal occurrences. In light of the consistent criminal activity and subpar living conditions, the complex was included on a list of properties targeted by Atlanta authorities for crackdowns, as reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The location of the complex, situated just outside I-285 near Niskey Lake, has seen its share of bloodshed. A 17-year-old was shot in the parking lot in October of 2023, and a 35-year-old man was injured during a dispute on March 30, 2022. In an even more severe incident, one person was killed and two others were injured in a triple shooting back in 2020. Details pertaining to the latest shootings are still forthcoming as Atlanta police continue their investigation into both the recent and previous violence that has plagued the apartment complex.
