From evening to dawn, 12 shot in city

One fatality among multiple shootings over the weekend.

The epidemic of shootings and violent crime in Atlanta reached another frightful level over the weekend with at least a dozen people shot — including one fatally — in a slew of unrelated incidents in just over 13 hours.

The violence began about 5:30 p.m. Saturday, with a man in a gas station store wielding a knife who was shot by an off-duty Georgia State Patrol trooper, and the spree ended at about 6:45 a.m. Sunday, when three residents were wounded by shots fired into a home.

The outburst of violence comes as police and city leaders strive to find solutions after last year’s dramatic rise in deadly crime. The Atlanta Police Department investigated 157 homicides in 2020, up from 99 in 2019 and the most in more than two decades.

The surge has led to an outcry from rattled residents and business owners as no part of the city

appeared immune, with homicide victims including a 7-year-old girl shot while riding in a car with her mother and aunt after an evening of holiday shopping in Buckhead and an 8-year-old shot while riding in a car with her mother on the Fourth of July in South Atlanta.

Public pressure continues to mount on Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, interim Police Chief Rodney Bryant and newly elected Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who all say that dealing with violent crime is at the forefront of their efforts in this new year.

On Saturday, in the first shooting, a state trooper was getting gas at the BP on Boulevard near I-20 when he saw one man chase another into the store and followed them, according to the GBI, which is investigating the incident.

“Witnesses report that one man was armed with a knife and was attempting to stab the other man,” GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles said in a news release. “The trooper gave commands for the man to drop the knife. The trooper left the store, and the man with the knife followed him.”

Authorities said the man advanced toward the trooper as he backed away and told him to drop the weapon, prompting the trooper to shoot the man. The man, who has not been identified, was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in critical condition.

Less than three hours later, a man was found shot to death, Atlanta police said.

Investigators discovered the man’s body at the intersection of Memorial Drive and Moreland Avenue about 8 p.m., officials said. Authorities believe the man was shot during an argument over a car.

Police were next sent to the 500 block of Hank Aaron Drive to investigate a triple shooting. When officers arrived about 2 a.m., they found a woman who had a gunshot wound, Atlanta police spokesman Sgt. Jarius Daugherty said. She was stable when she was taken to a hospital.

Officers learned that two men had both arrived at the hospital with gunshot wounds related to the same incident. Both were stable.

“The preliminary investigation has revealed that a drug transaction was taking place between two of the victims when, at some point, shots were fired from a third party,” Daugherty said. No other details were available.

Half an hour later, officers were called to investigate a shooting at the Gold Room nightclub on Piedmont Road, Daugherty said.

Investigators said a fight had broken out inside the club about 2:30 a.m. During the fight, a man was shot in the chest. He was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, his condition unknown.

Another shooting at a nightclub sent three people to the hospital hours later.

Officers were sent to the Blue Flame Lounge on Harwell Road about 4:30 a.m., where they found three men outside with gunshot wounds, Daugherty said. All three men were stable when they arrived at the hospital.

Investigators determined that a group of unknown suspects were traveling north on Harwell Road in a car. At some point, they stopped outside the lounge and fired “several shots” in the direction of the club, Daugherty said.

Three other people were taken to a hospital after being shot inside of a home in the 1000 block of Peeples Street.

Two of the victims were stable after the shooting, which happened about 6:45 a.m., police said. The third was seriously injured.

Investigators said the three victims were injured when “multiple shots” were fired into the home.

No arrests were made in any of the incidents, all of which remain under investigation.

CHANNEL 2 ACTION NEWS At least a dozen people were shot, one of whom died, in Atlanta in just over 13 hours. An incident at the BP on Boulevard near I-20, involving an off-duty state trooper, was the first of the events.