Two women were shot at a residence in southwest Atlanta Thursday night, and police say both were found alert and conscious when officers arrived. Atlanta police are investigating the shooting, which sent at least one television news crew racing to the scene as details remained scarce hours after the gunfire.
According to WSB-TV, officers responded to a person-shot call in the 1700 block of Laurelwood Drive SW, where they found the two victims. That account, citing the Atlanta Police Department, says the women were alert, conscious and breathing when first responders located them, and a Channel 2 photographer was sent to the scene as the investigation got underway.
A separate report from Atlanta News First identifies the location differently, placing the shooting at 1994 Bent Creek Way SW — the address for The Park at Castleton Apartments — according to an Atlanta Police Department spokesperson. That outlet likewise reports that officers on scene said the two women were alert and conscious, though it is not clear from the available reporting whether the two accounts describe the same incident or two separate shootings in the same part of the city.
Victims' Identities Still Unknown
The ages and identities of the victims have not been released, Atlanta News First reports, and it is also not known whether police have anyone in custody. No information about a suspect or a motive for the shooting has been made public.
Adding to the uncertainty, FOX 5 Atlanta reported on a shooting involving two females at the Castleton Apartments in the 1900 block of Bent Creek Way SW, with emergency dispatch records showing that call came in just before 5 p.m. It remains unclear whether that report refers to the same shooting described by the other outlets.
Further complicating the picture, 11Alive reported on a southwest Atlanta shooting in which police said the victims were a 57-year-old man with a gunshot wound to his left leg and a 32-year-old woman with a gunshot wound to her right leg. It is not established whether that shooting is connected to the reports of two women shot Thursday night, and the discrepancies among the various accounts — in location, victim count and victim gender — have not been resolved.
Part of a Broader Crime Trend
The shooting comes as Atlanta has reported a broader decline in violent crime this year. As of Oct. 17, overall crime had decreased 13% and shooting victims were down 24% compared with the same period the previous year, according to a WSB-TV report on police data. That citywide trend does not change the facts of Thursday's shooting, which remains under active investigation with no arrests confirmed and no victims publicly named.
