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A dispute during a sporting event in Dunbar Park, Atlanta, turned into a shooting on Sunday, July 7, 2022. The shooting left one person dead and injured five others, including a six-year-old who is in a critical condition.
Police officers responded to reports of gunfire at around 7 pm at the Dunbar Recreation Center inside Rosa L. Burney Park. Shortly after they arrived at Atlanta Park, they saw several people wounded.
An in-depth look into the shooting at Dunbar Park in Atlanta
One of the victims, a 30-year-old man, was transferred to Grady Hospital and due to his injuries, he couldn't be saved. Reports also say that the 6-year-old is currently in a serious condition at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Egleston Hospital.
In a statement, Deputy Chief Charles Hampton Jr. said:
“Deputies responded to a person shot here at Dunbar Park upon their arrival we did find multiple people shot. There was some type of baseball softball game going on at the park. There was an argument that ensued and the next thing you know, there was an exchange in gunfire."
The Deputy Chief also added:
“As we’ve said countless times, we asking citizens find a way to resolve conflict without a weapon. We can’t control the actions of others. We hate the actions of a small percentage of people to ruin. Some type of argument ensued.”
It's unclear what the disagreement was about or how the shooter and if the victims were connected.
Police, however, did state that the shooting in the park and the shooting that took place earlier on Sunday at a different location were related. While the first shooting took place in the park, the second one took place in front of Dunbar Elementary School at 500, Whitehall Terrace, SW, nearly half a mile away.
There have been no arrests in connection with the incident and no information about a potential suspect was provided at the time of writing this article.
Atlanta crime rate outperformed in 2022 in comparison to previous years
Crime statistics show that the homicide rate in Atlanta has only risen three years in a row. Between 2019 to 2020, the rate went up by 60%, increasing marginally in 2021. However, the city has managed to surpass last year's numbers in 2022.
One of the reasons contributing to the rise in homicide rates could be the shifting and expanding of population to the city for work during the pandemic. Shar Bates, a community activist, said that individuals don't feel particularly protected or well-served in the country. She added:
"I think the dynamics of Atlanta changed, the political climate, and the fact that we went through this phase where everybody had money and reality has set in and food is high, gas is high, rent is astronomical."
In a different incident, CBS46 reported that a four-year-old girl accidentally shot and killed herself in the backseat of a car on I-85 north across the city in DeKalb County. The girl was found dead in the backseat of the car with what appeared to be a gunshot wound at around 7.38 pm, according to a spokesman for the DeKalb Police Department.
The four-year-old's mother was arrested on a second-degree cruelty to children charge and taken to the DeKalb County Jail.
