The Mechanicsville community is pressing for an end to gun violence after a recent block party ended with five people shot and more than 90 shell casings on the ground.
Atlanta police say the shooting occurred on Aug. 10 at a park just off Windsor Street in southwest Atlanta following the annual Mechanicsville neighborhood reunion.
No arrests have been made, but investigators are calling on the public to help identify the suspect or suspects involved.
That’s in part why Rev. Timothy McDonald of First Iconium Baptist Church said he was standing with the victims’ families outside Grady Memorial Hospital on Friday.
“The silence has been deafening, and we feel that more noise needs to be made,” McDonald said.
Tabatha Colzie, the mother of a 29-year-old woman who was shot in the head, said her daughter remains in critical condition.
“She didn’t bother nobody, was the sweetest person,” Colzie said. “I’m going to keep saying [that she] was the sweetest person you could ever meet. And I’m torn, I’m hurt, I’m angry and I’m upset. Very mad and upset.”
The other victims injured in the shooting ranged from 15 to 33 years old.
Their families, including Colzie, claim they heard there was going to be a shooting at the reunion, but police at the scene didn’t do anything to prevent it.
Local activist and attorney Mawuli Davis said anyone in the Mechanicsville community in need of support or mental health experts and community organizations interested in helping can visit www.healatl.org.
An event is also planned at the Dunbar Recreation Center Aug. 24 at 10 a.m.
“We’ve reached out to the city,” Davis said. “We’ve asked that they re-open the Dunbar Center for this healing session and community resource fair, because what we’re clear about is that our community needs access to resources. … We’ll do what we have to do to make it clear that this community will not be left alone.”
Data from the Atlanta Police Department shows there have been 50 crimes committed with a firearm against people, property and society in Mechanicsville so far this year.
