Atlanta

Triple shooting leaves Grant Park neighbors upset, on edge

ATLANTA — Neighbors in Grant Park are pushing for change after three people were hurt in a shooting.

Some of those neighbors told Channel 2's Wendy Halloran that it was only a matter of time before someone got hurt.

“I just heard that pop, pop, pop, and my first thought in my brain, it sounds like fireworks in the park, and then I heard this (noise like) it was right out of a Steven Spielberg movie. I know that sound and I dove right into the house,” homeowner Eric Schneider said.

He said the usual peacefulness of Grant Park was shattered by gunfire Friday night.

Schneider lives about a block away from the shooting scene and told Halloran that he thought he was under attack.

“It was tremendous. It was no small caliber gun,” Schneider said.

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Atlanta police say there was a dispute on a basketball court around 8 p.m. when shots rang out.

"It does appear that there were some large caliber weapons that were used, so that is alarming to us," Capt. Leanne Browning with the Atlanta Police Department said.

Three men were shot and went to the hospital on their own. Several people were detained, including a convicted felon who had a gun.

Neighbors showed Halloran how a bullet tore through car, shearing the metal. After the bullets stopped flying, shell casings put the incident into perspective.

“Two-and-a-half, three-inches long. Speaking to another bystander, he said those were AR-15 shell casings,” Schneider told Halloran.

"Any instance such as this in our city, anywhere in our city, is unacceptable," Browning said.

The neighbors who Halloran spoke with said they are upset over the incident.

One neighbor said he’s called 911 at least 100 times to report suspicious activity and knew it was just a matter of time.

Many want the gates to the park closed at night. In the meantime, Atlanta police said they are on high alert.

"We are continuing to work every angle that we can possibly work to get this situation resolved," Browning said.

Two of the three people who were shot were released from the hospital. So far, no arrests have been made in the shooting.