A 15-year-old girl is among 2 dead and 22 wounded in shootings around the Atlanta area over the weekend.
Diamond Johnson, 15, was fatally shot when she got into a fistfight with two groups of teenagers outside the Waffle House in the Glenwood Park shopping plaza on Saturday night.
About three hours later, 22-year-old Antonio Sykes was killed during a shooting outside Artisans Bar and Gallery on Peachtree Street.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced she will hold a press conference on Tuesday morning, May 4 at 10 a.m EST, to discuss Atlanta’s deadly crime wave.
Atlanta has seen a 60% rise in homicides from last year when gang bangers moved to the wide open city from locked down blue areas.
“Just as we have overcome challenges in the past, Atlanta will get to the other side of this COVID crime wave and we will get this violence under control,” Bottoms said during her state of the city address a few weeks ago.
Atlanta’s spiking crime stats are a hindrance to Bottoms’ reelection efforts this year.
Most recent crime stats show there have been 208 shootings and 40 homicides in Atlanta in 2021.
Atlanta’s crime stats are on par with Chicago, Illinois — earning Atlanta the nickname “Chiraq South.”
Chiraq is a nickname for Chicago. It combines Chicago with Iraq, and is used to refer to a violent city that is similar to a war zone.
More Atlanta police officers have resigned in the last year than in years past. The lack of law enforcement presence on the streets has emboldened criminals to run amok.
“We are committed to putting an additional 250 new officers on the street during the next fiscal year,” Bottoms said.
Crime Stoppers is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the fatal shooting of Diamond Johnson Saturday night. Callers can remain anonymous. 404-577-TIPS (8477).
