‘There were people doing yard work’; Witnesses describe quadruple shooting involving Atlanta Police

Witnesses described the shooting that left three Atlanta Police officers hurt and a man dead in the Capitol View neighborhood Saturday evening.

Neighbors passing said they heard rapid gunfire on Desoto Ave. SW  around 5:15 pm.

“So, we heard all of the gunshots,” said Zachary Adrianessens. “There were people doing yard work in their front yards.”

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It happened across the street form Perkerson Park.

“We were very scared because kids, babies was out. We kind of was ducking,” said Mirage Long.

On the other side of the neighborhood, a festival was underway near the beltline.

“Children everywhere. It’s the Lantern Parade today. We had hoards of children carrying their lanterns to the beltline avoiding crime scenes,” said Adrianessens.

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Atlanta Police dispatchers sent the officers to the neighborhood after someone reported an armed man walking on the streets. Police said officers approached him, realized he had a gun and a knife and gunfire broke out.

“I’m not shaken. I’m numb to it,” said Jose Escobon.

Escobon has lived in the neighborhood for 25 years.

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“There’s a dead body on the ground. So, that itself right there is a tragedy,” said Escobon. “It may be somebody I know. I don’t know who, but nine times out of ten, it’s somebody I do know because I’ve been in this neighborhood a long time.”

Newer neighbors said gunfire is not unusual there, but four people shot, three of them officers, is more devastation than expected.

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