DeKalb County has been rocked by two consecutive days of gun violence at a local shopping center, with multiple injuries reported. According to FOX 5 Atlanta, the latest incident occurred around 3:30 p.m. last Saturday in the Hairston Square shopping center on South Hairston Road.
Per the report, several individuals exited a vehicle and fired shots into a restaurant, resulting in one person being shot and another injured by glass from the establishment. Both victims were transported to a hospital for treatment. The suspects fled the scene but subsequently crashed their vehicle and escaped on foot into the woods. DeKalb police are still piecing together the events of what appears to be a brazen daylight shooting, but the relationship between these incidents remains unclear.
As if history was repeating itself, this violent episode follows a similarly timed shooting last Friday afternoon at the same location, where three individuals sustained gunshot wounds; one of them critically, states WSBTV. The motive behind the shooting is still under investigation, and police have yet to establish if there is a connection between the two shootings. Neither suspects nor victims have been identified publicly at this time.
As DeKalb County police continue their search for the suspects, community members speak out about the violence. "If we teach mediation conflict to the parents, and the parents can go back and teach it to the youth, then they can learn how to communicate and deal with the violence and anger that they're dealing with everyday,” Tessekia Shields of Mothers Against Gang Violence told WSBTV in a statement that echoes the community's search for solutions. The police urge anyone with information about either shooting or the whereabouts of the suspects to come forward and call 911.
