Teen charged with murder in shooting

Paramedics tried to save victim outside apartment building.

An 18-year-old faces a murder charge after a man was killed Thursday afternoon outside a Brookhaven apartment building.

Officers were called to the Parke Towne North apartments near Buford Highway at about 4:30 p.m. after receiving several 911 calls about a shooting in the complex, Brookhaven police spokesman Lt. David Snively said.

“The initial call was for shots fired and people screaming,” he told The Atlanta Journal-constitution.

“Our officers got there and located a male in front of building 1442, suffering from at least one gunshot wound.”

Paramedics tried to save the victim, but he was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police. The man was identified Friday as 37-year-old Freddy Mendoza.

Police canvassed the complex in search of witnesses and surveillance cameras. Within an hour-and-a-half of the deadly shooting, police announced they had taken two people into custody.

One of those men was released Thursday evening after questioning and is not facing any charges, Snively said. The other, 18-year-old Oscar Castrejon Lopez, was booked into the Dekalb County Jail on charges of malice murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. He remained held without bond Friday morning.

Authorities haven’t said what led to the shooting or whether Lopez and Mendoza knew each other. The investigation is ongoing, and anyone with information is asked to call Brookhaven police at 404-637-0600.

Oscar Castrejon Lopez is accused of killing a 37-year-old man.