Urgent search underway for man accused of breaking into cars at fire station, firing gun

ATLANTA — There's an urgent search for a second person who police say targeted a fire station.

One person is in custody, and police are looking for a second after a wild scene took place at fire station No. 10 in the 400 block of Boulevard.

A firefighter witnessed what was going on and confronted the suspects.

"They took flight, ran from him and at some point, one of them discharged a firearm," Sgt. John Chafee with the Atlanta Police Department said. "At this point, it appears that firearm was discharged into the air and not at the firefighter."

Atlanta police quickly captured one suspect, a 20-year-old woman. The man who was with her got away, police said.

TRENDING STORIES:

• Couple ordered to pay photographer $1 million after dispute over $125
• Teen jumps out of plane emergency door in San Francisco
• Officer shot 14 times, killed hours after walking son to 1st day of school

"This is something that's concerning to us. This is something that's occurred all over the metro area, so we are looking at increasing our patrols at the fire stations and trying to do what we can to cut down on this and apprehend the people that are behind this," Chafee said.

Police say the pair broke into at least two vehicles and stole a firearm from one. They said they're not yet sure if that's the weapon one of the suspects fired into the air.

Investigators are looking into if the incident is connected to a recent rash of fire station break-ins, but fire officials say this same station's been hit before.

"People tend to do things that are devious towards our firefighters who are just trying to go about their day and help the citizens of Atlanta," Sgt. Cortez Stafford with the Atlanta Fire Department said.

Fire officials say they installed surveillance cameras and new fencing after the previous break-ins, but the suspects managed to scale a fence.

They're now looking at new security options.

Cox Media Group