Three teens were shot late Monday night and now an Atlanta advocacy group is hoping to find a solution to protect the young residents.
Police said a 14-year-old, 15-year-old and a 19-year-old were all shot during an incident in the 300 block of Fairburn Road. The 14-year-old was shot in the lower back, the 15-year-old was shot in the right arm and back area and the 19-year-old was shot in the leg and hip.
“I heard like maybe ten gunshots go off,” Ashley Johnson told 11Alive.
Those gunshots were whizzing through the breezeway right below Johnson's apartment. One bullet pierced a concrete step while another neighbor said one landed inside a nearby unit just underneath a baby's crib.
“I was scared for my kids,” Johnson said.
Johnson said she grabbed her kids and ducked for cover until she no longer heard the sound of bullets but what she did hear afterward were the cries of the three teens shots.
“When I looked out the window, that's when I seen the three young guys on the ground bleeding, screaming for help,” she said.
An official motive has not been released but residents and community activist Keith Lewis said they believe it stemmed from an argument over a girl earlier in the day with one of the parties returning overnight with a gun.
Residents told 11Alive two of the teens shot were innocent bystanders.
“What we're really looking to do is find out where these guns are coming from how are they getting on our streets, Lewis said. “How are these underage kids not even old enough to vote or buy cigarettes or liquor how are they getting an automatic weapon that the military use?”
Lewis is the founder of a youth outreach group called I'M A Father F1RST which is an advocacy group that helps fund mentor programs provide advice through conference calls and community cleanups to help men stay accountable as fathers.
He said there is a common thread in the recent rise in teen violence in the area. Lewis said the parents don’t have enough resources to know how to parent these young children.
That's where his organization steps in.
“I don't blame social media wholly, I don't blame parenting wholly, I don't blame music wholly but I think collectively they all play a part in what's happening with our youth,” Lewis said.
