Shots were fired by a former Coast Guard officer at an Atlanta hospital on Wednesday. The suspect fled before being arrested after a few hours.
A person opened fire on Wednesday in an Atlanta hospital, killing one and injuring four before fleeing and being arrested after a few hours, according to the police of this large city in the southern United States.
The suspect was identified by Atlanta police as Deion Patterson, a former Coast Guard officer. The shots took place around noon (6 p.m. Paris time) in a waiting room of a hospital in the city.
Police had earlier released footage of the alleged shooter, asking “anyone with information” to contact them.
“We think the suspect is armed and dangerous,” she said, warning that we should not try to “approach him”.
All the victims were women
The victims are between 25 and 71 years old, police said during a press conference in the early evening. All of the victims were women, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said.
Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said multiple federal agencies have joined in the pursuit of the suspect. Deion Patterson was accompanied by his mother, who was not injured, said the police chief, noting that it is too early to know if one or more victims were specifically targeted. His family is cooperating with the investigation.
The United States pays a very heavy price for the spread of firearms in its territory and the ease with which Americans have access to them.
The country has more individual weapons than inhabitants: one in three adults owns at least one weapon and nearly one in two adults lives in a home where there is a weapon. The consequence of this proliferation is the very high rate of firearm deaths in the United States, without comparison with that of other developed countries.
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