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Gunman on loose after killing one, injuring at least 4 others in shooting at Atlanta hospital
A shooter opened fire at an Atlanta hospital Wednesday afternoon, killing at least 1 and injuring multiple people, police said.
nypost.com
Gunman on loose after killing one, injuring at least 4 others in shooting at Atlanta hospital
By
Jesse O’Neill
May 3, 2023 1:12pm
Updated
A mass shooter is at large after he shot up an Atlanta hospital Wednesday afternoon, killing one woman and injuring at least four others, police said.
Suspect Deion Patterson, 24, allegedly opened fire in a waiting room at Northside Hospital Medical Midtown at 12:08, killing a 39-year-old woman, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said at a press conference.
The other victims, women of the ages of 25, 39, 56 and 71, were taken to nearby Grady Memorial Hospital, where three of them were in critical condition, according to medical officials.
Police believe Patterson fled the 11th floor of the hospital in the bustling Midtown commercial and residential district and carjacked a vehicle, which was later recovered in suburban Cobb County, north of the city.
The suspect, who is considered “armed and dangerous” and has military experience, was not in the vehicle when police found it, and remained the subject of a massive manhunt by swarms of heavily armed local, state and federal authorities.
Patterson was taken to the hospital by his mother, Minyone Patterson, and had pulled the trigger after becoming enraged.
“The damn VA gave him some messed up medication. And all he wanted was an Ativan,” Minyone told The Daily Beast, referring to a drug used to treat anxiety.
She was not injured in the shooting, Schierbaum said.
Police have released images of the shooter, clad in a hoodie and a surgical mask. Deion Patterson was ID’d as the suspected shooter.
The Coast Guard identified Patterson as a guardsman who enlisted in 2018 but was discharged from active duty in January 2023 after serving as an Electrician’s Mate second class.
“Our deepest sympathies are with the victims and their families,” the military branch said in a statement. “The Coast Guard Investigative Service is working closely with the Atlanta Police Department and local authorities in the investigation.”
A shelter-in-place order was lifted in the Midtown neighborhood was lifted at 3:06 p.m. as the search for Patterson broadened to Cobb County – even though police cautioned the mass shooter could be anywhere.
Police on the scene of the hospital shooting, which left one dead.WSB-TV At least four people were injured in the hospital shooting.AP
Police released security camera images of Patterson, who wore a gray hooded sweatshirt, black pants and a surgical mask as he brandished a firearm. The suspect also carried a brown satchel, which was draped across his chest.
Dr. Timothy Simons told ABC News that he was performing surgery one floor above when gunshots rang out. He finished the procedure and then sheltered in place until the police came to clear out the building.
“Then they escorted us all down the stairs,” he said.
Law enforcement has warned that the suspect, Deion Patterson, is considered dangerous.ERIK S LESSER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Dr. Ahmed Ali, a radiation oncologist at the building, said he returned from his lunch break to the shooting unfolding.
“I was worried what was happening,” he told WSB-TV. “Building security … they told me gunshots were coming from the 11th floor. They said there was a pool of blood in the elevator shafts when the doors opened.”
Several Atlanta schools in the area were locked down “out of an abundance of caution” while the killer remained at large, school officials said.
A patient is helped away from the shooting scene.AP Northside Hospital Medical Midtown in Atlanta.Northside Hospital Medical Midtown Pedestrians make their way through the scene among swarms of law enforcement.AP
Atlanta Mayor Andrew Dickens said at the press conference he was “very confident” that the array of law enforcement investigators assigned to the case would find the suspected shooter.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday afternoon that President Biden was monitoring the developing situation and was “frustrated” by the spate of mass shootings in the US.