According to the Cobb County Police Department, authorities have located the alleged shooter of the Wednesday afternoon shooting in an Atlanta medical office building following an hours-long manhunt.
Deion Patterson, the alleged shooter, was detained just before 8 p.m. ET in Cobb County, northwest of the city.
He is accused of the shooting at the Northside Hospital Midtown Medical building that resulted in the death of a 39-year-old lady and the injuries of four additional people.
According to Dr. Robert Jansen, the hospital’s chief of staff, who addressed the media on Wednesday, at least three of the injured patients were sent to Grady Memorial Hospital and were there as of Wednesday night. One of the victims was still in the operating room as of 5:00 p.m. ET, according to Jansen.
71 years old to 25 years old, according to Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum, are the injured women. He said it’s unclear whether the shooter targeted these individuals explicitly or whether they were either patients or staff members of the clinic.
Patterson held a meeting at the establishment
As police look into the incident, a reason for the shooting is still unknown. Patterson held a meeting at the establishment.
Around noon local time, police received calls reporting a shooting in the waiting area of the medical centre. This is when the day’s events began.
“Patterson’s mother was with him at the time, but was not one of the injured people, the Atlanta police chief said earlier in the day. The family of the alleged shooter is cooperating with law enforcement,” he said.
Patterson had a meeting in the facility that day, according to later statements made by police.
He remained inside the structure for about two minutes before making his escape on foot to a Shell petrol station nearby. He stole a pickup truck that was left running at 12:30 p.m.
Police were able to track the vehicle to Cobb County, where they focused their search on a building close to a commercial area by Truist Park, the baseball stadium for the Atlanta Braves, and made Patterson the target of their arrest.
The investigation and ensuing manhunt encompassed a number of Atlanta-area law enforcement organizations as well as federal agencies.
Schierbaum stated earlier in the day that while the alleged culprit was on the run, witnesses assisted by calling to report sightings of him in Atlanta and other areas of Cobb County. Officials gave this and technology credit for making it possible to find Patterson.
Officers from Atlanta and Cobb County indicated that because the investigation is continuing and a criminal prosecution is pending, officials were coy about many other elements of the case.
According to Schierbaum, the suspect had “minimal contact” with the police before the shooting.
A witness recalls the shooting’s aftermath
According to KJ Johnson, who spoke to the media, the shooting occurred as he was in the Northside Medical building waiting for his son’s appointment.
He claimed to have heard pops while waiting in the office, but confused them for the sound of a motorcycle backfiring. Johnson and the other patients were made aware of the attack by the office TV in the waiting area.
“At that time, we had no idea there was a shooting. But then the television was on and there was breaking news on the television. And they mentioned that there was an active shooter and they gave the address and the address was the building that we were in,” Johnson said outside the building.
He recalled that the shooting happened just two stories above him
“We were in the ninth floor. So once everyone heard the shooting happened on the 11th floor, you can imagine that some of the folks in the room got a little nervous, a little tense,” he said.
The medical professionals in the office escorted everyone into a secure back room as they waited for police to arrive and escort them out, according to Johnson, who said that everyone remained calm.
The medical staff “didn’t make the matter worse by making it seem like there was some imminent threat to our health,” he said.
After he and the others were evacuated, Johnson was able to help a patient with limited mobility walk down the nine flights of stairs to safety.
According to Northside Hospital, it is helping with the police investigation.
According to the hospital’s tweet, “This tragedy is affecting all of us, and we ask for patience and prayers at this time.” On Thursday, Northside Medical’s Midtown location will be closed.
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