Deion Patterson, the suspect in the May 3 Midtown shootings that left one woman dead and four wounded, was apprehended in Cobb County after an hours-long manhunt by multiple law enforcement agencies.
“Thanks to the highly trained police officers across our region, we are able to bring this suspect into custody without further harm,” Mayor Andre Dickens said at a press conference shortly before 9 p.m. at Atlanta Police Department headquarters.
“He will be charged and stand trial for his crimes. Not only did law enforcement bring this man into custody, they also kept our community safe during an enormously tense afternoon and evening,” the mayor said.
Atlanta Police allege Patterson entered the Northside Hospital Medical Midtown office building at 1110 West Peachtree St. at about noon May 3 where he shot the five women. He left the building and stole a pickup truck that was left running unattended from a nearby gas station and drove to Cobb County. Police tracked him using a license plate reader. Cobb County Police used a GDOT camera to locate the suspect and make the arrest about 8 p.m.
“Technology played a huge role, but technology doesn’t do any good without people who are determined to capture an individual that would do something like this,” said Cobb County Police Chief Stuart VanHoozer.
Cobb police spent hours following numerous calls of sightings of the suspect, VanHoozer said, before he was brought into custody.
Mayor Dickens brought up the need for gun control at the press conference, saying Atlanta’s mass shooting is one of about 200 that have happened this year in the U.S.
“This was a horrible act of gun violence,” Dickens said. “But equally horrifying is that we know that this is not unique in our country. “We have a national epidemic on gun violence in America. And we have a serious problem with how we are treating mental health in this nation. One thing we know is that it doesn’t have to be this way.”
Other nations have challenges with mental health, but don’t seem to have nearly the level of gun violence that happens in America, he said.
“So it’s the guns that we’re talking about,” Dickens said. “We need immediate action that meets the urgency of this crisis.
“There’s a lot of talk about second amendment rights,” he said. “We need more actions to protect the rights of our citizens to go about their lives — to go to a doctor’s office, a supermarket, a gas station, their school — without the threat of being gunned down.”
While police wouldn’t go into extensive details about the shootings, they did indicate that Patterson had an appointment at the Northside Medical Center facility on West Peachtree Street where the shootings took place.
Original story below
One woman is dead and four other women have been wounded in a lunchtime shooting at the Northside Medical Center facility at 1110 West Peachtree St. in Midtown.
APD has identified the shooter as Deion Patterson, 24, who remains at large and is considered armed and dangerous. Police advise people not to approach the suspect and call 911.
Police had earlier released surveillance footage of the shooter inside the building holding what appears to be a handgun.
At an afternoon press conference, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said that all five victims were women. The deceased victim was 39 years old, while the other victims ages were listed as 71, 39, 56, and 25. It is unknown if the victims were medical center staff or other patients in the waiting room.
The chief said Patterson carjacked an automobile and left the scene as police converged on the Northside Medical Center. Schierbaum said the car has been recovered, but would not say where, although he did mention that APD was working with Cobb County law enforcement.
Since then, there has been a flurry of police activity near Truist Park, Cobb Galleria, and in Smyrna. Cobb Police said in a press conference just after 6 p.m. that the carjacked automobile was found in a parking deck on Heritage Court near The Battery.
Cobb officials said DOT cameras picked up Patterson near The Battery and Cobb Galleria around 12:30 p.m. and they believe he still might be in the area.
APD said they received the first call about an active shooter at 12:08 p.m. The shootings took place in an 11th-floor waiting room at the Northside Medical office. Schierbaum confirmed that Patterson’s mother was with him and has been cooperative with investigators.
There is currently a $10,000 reward for information on Patterson’s whereabouts.
The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed that Patterson served as an Electrician’s Mate Second Class from 2018 to his discharge from active duty in January 2023. Schierbaum said APD had “minimal” previous contact with Patterson for other offenses, but did not elaborate.
WSB-TV reported that Patterson has been charged with drug-related misdemeanors and failures to appear in Henry County prior to joining the Coast Guard.
Mayor Andre Dickens said the White House had reached out and was offering support. He described the response to the shooting as multi-jurisdictional, including the FBI.
Just after 3 p.m., APD lifted the shelter-in-place as it continues to search for the suspect. Atlanta Public Schools said it was also lifting the lockdown at its Midtown and Washington cluster schools.
The shooting victims were brought to Grady Hospital, the city’s only level-one trauma center. Visitation was temporarily suspended, but that has now been lifted.
Grady Chief Medical Officer Robert Jansen said during an evening press conference that two women suffered “particularly serious” injuries and were taken immediately to surgery after being transported to Grady.
One woman is still in surgery as of about 5 p.m. and will be taken to ICU after. The other woman was in surgery for several hours and is in ICU. Another woman was critically wounded and is also in ICU.
The fourth woman is in stable condition, Jansen said.
Local politicians are taking to social media to voice their thoughts on Wednesday’s shootings:
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Dyana Bagby contributed.
