Atlanta has been rocked by a mass shooting that left a 12-year-old boy dead and five teenagers injured near Atlantic Station, a landmark shopping district in the city.
Zyion Charles’ family is reeling from the tragedy. His grandmother said he was an innocent bystander caught up in a dispute between other youths. Officials have not released witness statements from the night of the incident. One other child is also in critical condition after the Saturday night shooting.
Mayor Andre Dickens, the city’s police chief and Atlanta Public Schools leaders are calling for proactive parenting and a village approach to curb youth violence in response to the mass shooting.
“When a 12-year-old dies in our city — on our city streets … the whole village has a responsibility, and the whole village is impacted,” Dickens said during a news conference Sunday morning.
Atlanta police chief Darin Schierbaum said everyone involved in the incident was a teenager. Officers found three handguns at the scene.
Zyion’s grandmother, Sandra Durden, said the seventh grader did not have a gun and was at the wrong place at the wrong time. She told WSB-TV she left him home, and he later went to Atlantic Station with a group of friends.
“You could never imagine a 12-year-old losing his life,” Durden said.
Authorities said the shooting occurred around 8 p.m., right after security and off-duty officers escorted the group off the mall’s property for “disorderly behavior” and violating its curfew.
As of January, all minors at Atlantic Station must be accompanied by an adult after 3 p.m. In addition, no one under 21 is allowed after 9 p.m. Dickens said all of the victims’ parents were unaware of the curfew.
The mayor stressed the importance of parents keeping track of their children’s whereabouts through cell phones, apps or other lines of communication.
“I’m asking parents right now that you use your phones, your Android, or your iPhone. They all have trackers….” Dickens said. “And then to be able to hold them accountable to know curfews at the places that they visit and to make sure when they’re visiting friends and their friends’ parents also know where their kids are at all times.”
