Woman’s death leads to police shootout inside high-rise apartment, Atlanta cops say
Two people, including a suspected gunman, are dead after a shooting at an Atlanta high-rise apartment building, police said.
The shooting happened Wednesday at Atlanta House apartments on West Peachtree Street, local news outlets reported. Officers were called to the building around 3:25 a.m. about a “shooting within the building” and arrived within 5 minutes, Atlanta Police Department Chief Rodney Bryant said during a news conference.
“As we were getting this information through 911, our dispatchers could still hear gunfire being played out throughout the building,” Bryant said.
When officers arrived at the apartment, Bryant said they “immediately engaged the individual that was shooting at them”and that they were able to contain him “as the shootout continued.”
Bryant said one woman was found dead in the apartment and that the person they believe to be the assailant was also killed. He said it was too early to elaborate when asked “did the suspect kill the victim and then police kill the suspect?” during the news conference.
“This is still an early part of this investigation and there’s a large scene that we have to go through so everything that we are giving you is truly preliminary,” Bryant said.
He did say it appears the victim and the suspect, who have not been publicly identified, knew each other. He said the victim lived in the building but that police don’t yet know whether the suspect lived there or was just visiting.
Bryant said the suspect and the victim were in the same building during the shooting. He also said some evidence suggeststhe suspect may have been jumping from balcony to balconyand that it “appeared he was shooting both inside and outside the building.”
Deputy Chief of Criminal Investigations Charles Hampton said during the news conference that there are “several rounds inside multiple units” but that police have checked those units and have not found any other victims.
“Right now it appears that everything is contained inside one apartment or condo inside the building,” Hampton said.
Bryant said the incident could have been much worse.
“Sadly we could not address what happened inside an apartment but it is our quick response that I think saved our community from a much worse incident,” he said.
Bryant said the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is on the case since an officer was involved in the shooting.
He said a number of people recorded what happened in the apartment and asked anyone with information to call the police department.
No other information about the case had been released as of Wednesday afternoon.
This story was originally published October 20, 2021 at 11:25 AM with the headline "Woman’s death leads to police shootout inside high-rise apartment, Atlanta cops say."
