Man Charged in Atlanta College Party Shooting That Injured 4

The Associated Press
By The Associated Press
September 5, 2019US News
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Man Charged in Atlanta College Party Shooting That Injured 4
The campus of Clark Atlanta University is seen in Atlanta on April 21, 2019. (Jeff Martin/AP Photo)

Atlanta police say a man has been arrested in connection with the block party shooting outside the Atlanta University Center library that wounded four students.

News outlets report 21-year-old Isaiah Williams turned himself in to police Wednesday afternoon and was charged with aggravated assault, aggravated battery, possession of a firearm, and attempted murder.

Police spokesman Carlos Campos says an argument led to the shooting last month during a party celebrating the end of student orientation and the new semester.

The victims, students at Clark Atlanta and Spelman College, included 18-year-old Erin Ennis, 18-year old Maia Williams-McLaren, 18-year-old Elyse Spencer, and 19-year-old Kia Thomas. Campos says they weren’t the intended targets.

Campos says Williams isn’t enrolled in the nearby colleges. Police are still searching for a second suspect.

It’s unclear whether Williams has an attorney.

‘It Could Have Been Any of Us’

Fear was among the students of Clark Atlanta University on Aug. 20, worried about their safety after gunshots were fired into a crowd of 200 people outside the school’s library at a block party shortly after 10:30 p.m.

“It could have been any of us,” Zaire Hammond, a senior from Sacramento, California told authorities. “Stuff like this shouldn’t happen on a school campus.”

The block party was celebrating the end of new student orientation, and Clark Atlanta student Anais LaFontaine of New York City said that she’s concerned about the first-year students.

Atlanta University Center
The campus of Clark Atlanta University is seen in Atlanta on April 21, 2019. (Jeff Martin/AP Photo)

“I don’t want them to be scared to come back,” she said.

Other students say they want security strengthened on the campus near downtown Atlanta that’s easily accessible to the public.

“Anybody and everybody can walk through here,” said Jada Phillips, a student from Virginia.

The gunshots began after an argument broke out between two parties and someone opened fire, investigators said. A video aired by WXIA-TV shows dozens of students running frantically after the gunshots.

“It appears there were two separate groups that were targeting each other, and these people were just caught in the crossfire,” Atlanta police Capt. William Ricker told reporters.

Clark Atlanta’s Office of Religious Life held a prayer vigil on the evening of Aug. 22.

“Evil will not have its way on our campus,” it said on social media.

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