Peaks of gun violence in Atlanta amid debate over police brutality

07/06/2020 Business, Health, Sports, World


After months of hiding from COVID-19, many Atlantans fled their homes last month in anger rather than apprehension about the uncertain world.

With the recent death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police, they felt secure enough to take to the streets and demand police reform that would stop brutality against blacks.

The protesters marched and chanted aloud, as alive as they called for a less senseless death. Atlanta police were stunned as protesters shouted, and many were outraged when their colleagues were fired and later accused of assaulting detainees and, in the case of a police officer, murdering.

Underneath it all, a grim phenomenon was taking shape: shootings among residents were on the rise in the city, killings too.

Ninety-three people were killed in Atlanta during the four-week period from May 31 to June 27, a drastic increase from 46 over the same period last year, the latest complete data available. And fourteen people died from homicide in that span, compared to six during the same time period in 2019.

Shots include a 10-year-old boy who survived, an 18-year-old boy who may have been selling water on the street in Midtown when he was killed, and an 80-year-old man who died as an unintended target from a drive-by in his house.

The numbers keep going up.

On Saturday, an 8-year-old girl was shot dead near Wendy’s, where Rayshard Brooks was killed by an Atlanta police officer. Atlanta police said a group of gunmen appeared to have stopped the car in which the boy was traveling before someone shot him.

"The officers are afraid to do their job," Segura said last week.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said at a press conference Sunday that "there was no massive illness" on Saturday night.

"We have had 75 shootings in the past few weeks, APD cannot be blamed," Bottoms said at the press conference.

Lately, Segura said, every officer he talks to is angry about the treatment of the nine Atlanta officers who were indicted by Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard in June.

Segura said he and other police officers believe that Garrett Rolfe, since the firing, and Officer Devin Brosnan followed the Atlanta Police Department's use of force policy in their meeting with Brooks. Rolfe, charged with felony murder and 10 other offenses, has received $ 500,000 bail and must wear an ankle monitor, have no contact with witnesses, comply with a curfew from 6 pm to 6 am, and possess no firearms . He was also ordered to hand over his passport.

Brosnan, charged with aggravated assault for stepping on Brooks with his boot and three violations of his oath, was released on $ 50,000 bail.

The arrests were irritating and confusing for other officers, who feel they are unclear on what city leaders want from them, Segura said.

After Brooks's death, Police Chief Erika Shields stepped aside as Bottoms and city council members began to talk about "reimagining" the police department and changing the use of force policies. Segura said officials will abide by any policy the city writes for them.

Bottoms addressed the escalation of violence during a conference call with the city council on Thursday. She noted that crime overall has been reduced by 30 percent, while acknowledging the increase in shooting.

"But we are certainly in a very difficult period right now," said the mayor, adding that a task force is working as quickly as possible to review the use of force policy.

So far, the mayor has issued three administrative orders based on the recommendations of the task force. The orders seek to ensure that officers' body cameras are filming during the use of force incidents; that witnesses who have their own images can easily share them with investigators; and that the Atlanta Citizen Review Board is empowered to drive change in surveillance in the city.

The Atlanta City Council will vote Monday on other police reform measures, including a proposed ban on the use of bottlenecks.

Bottoms noted that other large cities have seen similar increases in violence recently due to the "state of the country at the moment."

It is unclear how many cities have seen such an increase, but at least two have.

"Gun violence skyrockets amid health crises, public confidence, officers' reluctance," read a recent headline in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

"Peaks of gun violence in New York, intensifying the police debate," one said in the New York Times.

In Atlanta's Edgewood neighborhood, resident Quincy Jackson, 34, said he has been hearing more gunshots lately and hopes Atlanta officials and officials can find common ground soon. He is torn: he sees the merits of the Black Lives Matter protests, but he also knows that the community needs police.

"I think they have loosened up a bit," Jackson said Thursday on Edgewood Avenue, across the street from a George Floyd mural. "Now it looks like the cops are afraid to do something, like they don't want to get in trouble."

Down the street, Alethea Carter, who has lived in the neighborhood all her 65 years, doesn't have many warm feelings for the Atlanta Police Department right now.

As a black mother, she said she was devastated by Brooks's death. Now she is even more upset with the police because, after those events that caused so much pain to so many people, the police seem to be less interested in doing the right thing for the community. She is also saddened by the increase in street shootings.

"If they don't kill us," he said, "we're going to kill each other. It's sad."

In DeKalb County, where county police officers and political leaders are not in the midst of such dismay, homicides decreased by five in the same period that Atlanta saw murders increase by eight. Statistics on general shootings were not immediately available. DeKalb County officials monitor a population that is close in size to Atlanta.

In Atlanta, as officials, residents and police work to find a compromise, victims of violent crime and their loved ones wonder if their difficulties could have been avoided.

When 80-year-old Clarence Knox was shot on the road on June 25, Atlanta police had known for weeks that his home was under attack.

On June 3, he had apparently been lying on the sofa, where he often rested while drinking Miller Genuine Draft and watching old westerns as bullets penetrated the house. He called his daughter Rochelle Thibodeaux and said, "Girl, if I had been sitting on the couch, you wouldn't be talking to me right now."

Knox also called 911 to report the shooting. The attackers, the family believes, were trying to hurt a young relative who Knox allowed to stay in the home. The family told police that, in addition to who might be behind the young man, Thibodeaux said.

Thibodeaux tried to convince her father to stay with her, but did not want her to escape from her own home.

On June 26, the family had been unable to contact Knox for a time, so they called the police. Officers found him shot to death on the floor, grabbing the phone like he was trying to call 911, his daughter said. Officers reported finding up to 20 shell shells outside.

Now, while Thibodeaux is in pain, he wonders if the police could have saved him.

"I feel like it could have been avoided if they put more police cars in that area after the first shooting. They didn't even follow him, ”he said, frustration clear in his voice. "I know we are going through a lot, but this is our 80-year-old father."