Gunfire broke out on Fourth of July weekend in Atlanta, injuring over 20 people and killing three, including an 8-year-old girl, police said.
An investigation is underway after the 8-year-old was fatally shot Saturday night across the street from the Wendy’s restaurant where a former police officer killed Rayshard Brooks, officials said.
Secoriea Turner was riding in a car with her mother and an adult friend on I-75/85 when they exited onto University Avenue, police spokesman Sergeant John Chafee told 360aproko. As the driver tried to enter a parking lot at 1238 Pryor Road, a group of armed individuals blocked the entrance, Chafee said.
Someone from the group began shooting at the car multiple times, striking the 8-year-old, police said. The girl was taken to Atlanta Medical Center where she died from her injuries.
There have been ongoing protests near the Wendy’s restaurant in the aftermath of the death of Brooks and George Floyd, who was killed by police in Minneapolis on Memorial Day.
“Enough is enough,” Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said at a Sunday news conference.
“You shot and killed a baby. And there wasn’t just one shooter, there were at least two shooters,” Bottoms said. “If you want to be part of a solution and not the problem, you need to clear out the area.”
Police officers are offering a $10,000 reward for more information on Turner’s death.
After officials held the press conference, police responded to another shooting on Pryor Road, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Police found two people who appeared to have been shot, and later said that a third victim who was taken to a hospital was also shot at the same location, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. One victim died from their injuries, the newspaper reported.
