Atlanta City Council president: Teens in deadly Atlantic Station shooting had easy access to guns

November 29th, 2022

Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman sat down with WABE’s “Morning Edition” to discuss the recent deadly shooting at Atlantic Station, Georgia’s loosened gun legislation, youth gun violence statistics and more citywide solutions.

Courtesy of Doug Shipman

Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman says its a group effort between the city, its school systems and parents to prevent the kind of tragedy that ended the life of 12-year-old Zyion Charles over the weekend. Shipman also said we live in a state in which guns are easy to get and easy to carry.

“It’s very hard to enforce even the laws that are on the books, and so, in that kind of situation, we’re dealing with a society in which guns are very available and that will lead to these kinds of situations sadly,” Shipman told WABE’s “Morning Edition.”

Zyion was caught in the middle of gunfire on the 17th Street Bridge near Atlantic Station on Saturday night, according to Atlanta police.

APD tells WABE every person involved in the shooting was a teenager and they all knew each other. Police also recovered three handguns from the scene.

Mayor Andre Dickens shared some statistics on youth violence in Atlanta during a press conference shortly after the shooting.

Even though there’s been a reduction in the percentage of youth homicide victims and suspects since last year, Dickens said parents need to stay vigilant, know when and where city curfews are and know where their children are.

“Coming into this weekend, people under the age of 20 accounted for around 7% of the homicide victims, and 13% of the suspects in 2022,” Dickens said.

Gov. Brian Kemp signed the Constitutional Carry Act into law in April of this year, which allows most Georgians to carry concealed firearms without a permit.

Shipman sat down with WABE’s “Morning Edition” to discuss more on Georgia’s loosened gun legislation, youth gun violence statistics and more citywide solutions.

Lily Oppenheimer contributed to this report.