Atlanta Shooting Suspect Charged With Murder
Deion Patterson was awaiting his first court appearance Thursday after police say he opened fire in the waiting room of an Atlanta medical practice Wednesday. Workers and others in a bustling commercial district took shelter for hours during the manhunt.
Authorities swarmed the city's midtown neighborhood shortly after noon in search of the shooter. Patterson, 24, was captured in Cobb County, just northwest of Atlanta.
Atlanta Police Deputy Chief Charles Hampton Jr. declined to discuss any details of the investigation or a possible motive, saying, "Why he did, what he did, all of that is still under investigation."
Patterson had an appointment at a Northside Medical building and opened fire shortly after arriving in an attack that lasted about two minutes, law enforcement officials said at a news conference Wednesday night. Patterson then went to a Shell gas station and took a pickup truck that had been left running and unattended, authorities said.
A 39-year-old woman was pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said.
The Fulton County medical examiner's office identified her as Amy St. Pierre. St. Pierre worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the agency confirmed.
The CDC "is deeply saddened by the unexpected loss of a colleague killed today in the Midtown Atlanta shooting," spokesperson Benjamin Haynes said in a statement. "Our hearts are with her family, friends, and colleagues as they remember her and grieve this tragic loss."
The four wounded women — aged 25, 39, 56 and 71 — remained in critical but stable condition Wednesday night, according to Hampton, the deputy chief. Their names were not immediately released.