An 18-year-old was fatally shot and a 14-year-old was wounded in a double shooting on Tuesday near Atlanta University Center. The incident occurred at a gas station at the intersection of Sells Avenue SW and Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard SW, close to the confluence of several historically black colleges and universities, according to Atlanta News First.
Pronounced dead at the hospital due to the injuries sustained in the shooting was Raquavious Ferguson, who had graduated just months prior from Booker T. Washington High School. The identity of the younger victim has not been released; however, he was reported to be alert and conscious when hospitalized. The circumstances leading up to the shooting remain under investigation by the Atlanta police, while details regarding potential suspects or motives are still forthcoming.
As the community grapples with the violence, Ferguson’s mentor Keith Lewis, founder of I’m a Father First, publicly shared his grief. "He was just welcoming," Lewis told FOX 5 Atlanta. "I say stay safe because I knew what he was battling over here." Lewis, who had mentored Ferguson for more than five years, described the environment in southwest Atlanta as "poverty at its lowest, lowest form."
Lewis also lamented the challenges of trying to safeguard the youth from such an environment. As a mentor, he understood the pull of the streets and the effort it takes to emerge from them. "Sometimes I guess you can't save everybody," he expressed in an interview, his voice heavy with the weight of loss. Despite the tragedy, Lewis reaffirmed his commitment to supporting young men in the area, emphasizing to FOX 5 Atlanta, "I just want all the young men that I work with to know that we love them." Atlanta police revealed that they have surveillance video from the scene and took one individual into custody on the night of the incident; however, it has not been made clear if the individual was charged in relation to the shooting.
The close proximity to the Atlanta University Center, which includes institutions such as Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College, and Morehouse College, underscores the pervasive reach of gun violence and its ripples through academic communities. For now, the tight-knit Atlanta neighborhoods are left to mourn the loss of a young man, who by many accounts, represented the potential and the promise to rise above the struggles haunting the community where he grew up.
