Jania Ashlynn
On Wednesday afternoon, a mass shooter opened fire at an Atlanta hospital, resulting in one woman’s death and at least four people being injured. The shooter is still at large.
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Incident Details
Deion Patterson, 24, is suspected of having carried out a shooting in the waiting area of Northside Hospital Medical Midtown at 12:08, according to statements made by Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum at a press conference. A 39-year-old woman was killed and several other women were injured.
They were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital where they are currently in critical condition.
The police suspect that Patterson escaped from the 11th floor of a hospital in an area of Midtown that is both residential and commercial. He then stole a car and it was later found by authorities in Cobb County on the northern edge of the city.
Authorities state that the shooter is “armed and dangerous.” He has military experience and was not in the stolen vehicle when police discovered it. He remains at the top of the list for a city-wide manhunt. Local, state, and federal officials have joined the hunt.
The police released security camera footage of the suspect, who wore a gray hooded sweatshirt, black pants, a surgical mask, and was brandishing a firearm. He also had a brown satchel draped across his chest.
Witness Accounts
Several medical personnel have shared their accounts of the event. A radiation oncologist by the name of Dr. Ahmed Ali recalled the moments that the shots rang out.
“I was worried what was happening,” he recounted to WSB-TV. “Building security … they told me gunshots were coming from the 11th floor. They said there was a pool of blood in the elevator shafts when the doors opened.”
At 3:06 p.m. the shelter-in-place order for Midtown was lifted, even though police warned the mass shooter might be anywhere. The search for Patterson has now expanded to Cobb County.
