Update with the arrest, 5:24: The suspect in a mass shooting at Northside Hospital Midtown medical office that left one person dead and four others injured has been arrested. atlanta Police Said tonight. Officers searched for the suspect for about eight hours. per cnn, had previously sought treatment at a medical office for an undisclosed condition. Read details below.
first at 12:33 pm: An active shooter incident in Midtown Atlanta left one woman dead and at least four others hospitalized, police said today. Three major cable news outlets had switched to live coverage by 1:15 p.m. ET as police said the shooter was on the loose.
Responding to a call at 12:08 p.m., police said officers went to the Northside Hospital Midtown Medical Office Building at 1110 West Peachtree St. The shooting took place in an 11th-floor waiting room, police said. Several photos were released of the suspected gunman, who has been identified as 24-year-old Deion Patterson, and is being sought by police.
Police lifted the earlier “shelter in place” order just after 3 p.m. ET.
Atlanta Police Chief Darrin Shirbaum said at a press conference that Patterson exited the building and rammed a vehicle a short distance away “and managed to flee the scene.” The chief said that the vehicle has been recovered.
No motive has been determined for the shooting, Shirbaum said. A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to his arrest.
Four female victims, ranging in age from 25 to 71, were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital – three are listed in critical condition – and the fifth, identified as a 39-year-old woman, was pronounced dead at the scene. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said at an afternoon news conference that the injured were “fighting for their lives.”
The area is heavily populated, with nearby hotels including the Loews Atlanta, where many people from Los Angeles or New York stay when they are filming in the Georgia capital. Condominiums in the area are often rented out to townspeople for film and TV productions.
The nine-screen IPIC Atlanta movie theater and Georgia Tech University are also within about a half-mile of the scene, and Georgia State University is about two miles south.
Police sent out a “public safety alert” tweet minutes later that read: “Anyone in the area is asked to secure their building and shelter. Anyone not living in the area is asked to stay away.” We will communicate with updates through social media and our website.
Atlanta police released several photos of the suspect, who is seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and, in some photos, a COVID-style mask and carrying a backpack. In at least one picture, he is seen raising a gun in his hand.
Video from the scene showed a massive response from Atlanta police and several other local, state and federal agencies — including the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — as officers searched for the shooter.
Greg Evans and Dominic Patten contributed to this report.