ATLANTA — Editor's note: The video above is from a previous story.
Atlanta Police announced a significant development in the case where a teenagers was shot and killed near the Atlanta Fair earlier this month. Officers said they have made three arrests.
Creekside High School student Joshua Adetunji was killed on Saturday, March 5. He was 16 years old.
All persons allegedly involved in the incident are in custody, two of those individuals are juveniles, Atlanta Police said in a news conference on Friday. One of three suspects is a 19-year-old who is believed to be the shooter, police said. All three suspects are facing felony murder charges.
Officers responded to three different shootings that were not far from the Atlanta Fair on the night of March 5. Atlanta Police homicide commander Lt. Ralph Woolfolk previously said that the shooting that led to Adetunji's death was the result of an "escalated dispute"--a factor that investigators said is now responsible for nearly half of Atlanta homicides.
A 14-year-old and a 19-year-old were also injured on that night. Atlanta Police said their injuries were non-life threatening gunshot wounds.
16-year-old shot to death near Atlanta fair identified
“It starts at home," APD sergeant and President of Badge to Family Outreach Shedarren Fanning previously told 11Alive. "A lot of the anger, fuel and hate is coming from things that started from when they were a child all the way now to the point that they don’t know how to deal with conflict resolution."
Speaking to 11Alive previously Liberty Baptist Church Associate Pastor Randy Wood, who baptized Adetunji in September of 2019, said that the high school student was one of six siblings and that his family was "absolutely devastated" by the loss.
Wood said that the teenager was respectful at church, energetic and engaging--that the violence needs to stop.
"Joshua was a young man, his entire life ahead of him, he said. "And his life tragically has been cut short, and his dreams and goals will not come to fruition. And it was for no reason other than just a thoughtless, aggressive act of evil."