Atlanta Shooting Suspect Arrested After Massive 7-Hour Manhunt – Update

Erik Pedersen
·4 min read
10

UPDATED with arrest, 5:24: The suspect in a mass shooting at the Northside Hospital Midtown medical office that killed one person and wounded four more has been apprehended, Atlanta police said tonight. Authorities had conducted a near eight-hour manhunt for the suspect who, per CNN, had previously sought treatment at the medical office for an undisclosed condition. Read details below.

PREVIOUSLY AT 12:33 PM: One woman is dead and at least four others hospitalized in an active-shooter event in midtown Atlanta, police said today. The three big cable news outlets had switched to live coverage by about 1:15 p.m. ET as police said the shooter remained on the loose.

More from Deadline

Responding to a call at 12:08 p.m. ET, officers went to the Northside Hospital Midtown medical office building at 1110 West Peachtree St. The shooting took place in an 11th-floor waiting room at the facility, police said. Multiple images were released of the suspected gunman, identified as Deion Patterson, 24, and police were scouring the area for him.

Police lifted the earlier “shelter in place” order just after 3 p.m. ET.

Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said at the news conference that Patterson left the building and carjacked a vehicle a short distance away “and was able to flee the scene.” The vehicle has been recovered, the chief said.

No motive for the shooting has been determined, Schierbaum said. A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to his capture.

Four female victims ranging from age 25 to 71 were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital — with three listed in critical condition — and a fifth, identified as a 39-year-old woman, was pronounced dead at the scene. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said in an afternoon news conference that the wounded are “fighting for their lives.”

The area is heavily populated, with hotels nearby including the Loews Atlanta, which is where many people from Los Angeles or New York stay when they are filming in the Georgia capital. Condominiums in the area often are rented out for people in town for film and TV productions.

The nine-screen IPIC Atlanta movie theater and Georgia Tech University also are within about a half-mile radius of the scene, and Georgia State University is about two miles south.

Police sent out a “Public Safety Alert” tweet minutes later that read: “Anyone in the area is asked to secure their building and shelter in place. Anyone not in the area is asked to stay away. We will communicate via social media and our website with updates.”

Atlanta police released multiple images of the suspect that show him wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and, in some photos, a Covid-style mask and carrying a bag. In at least one of the images, he appears to be raising a handgun.

Video from the scene showed a massive response from Atlanta police and multiple other local, state and federal agencies — including the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — as authorities searched for the shooter.

Greg Evans and Dominic Patten contributed to this report.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.