A 17-year-old boy was fatally shot in the parking lot of an Atlanta shopping center over the weekend. FOX 5 Atlanta reported that the incident occurred on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive shortly after noon yesterday. The Atlanta Police Department said the teenager was shopping with family when he got into a verbal dispute with a group of males, which escalated to gunfire.
Homicide investigators with the Atlanta Police Department are working to determine the full circumstances of the shooting. The victim’s identity has not been released pending notification of next of kin. According to 11Alive, police responded to a call about a person shot and found the teenage male with a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene despite efforts by Grady EMS.
Lt. Butler noted that no one else was injured during the incident, which occurred during a busy holiday shopping period. He encouraged the public to provide information, saying, "People don’t realize how much that helps," and added, "Those tips are very valuable to us," as per FOX 5 Atlanta.
With security footage of the incident and cooperation from the victim’s family, the Atlanta Police Department continues to investigate the circumstances of the shooting.
