Shooting at Atlanta
office building leaves
multiple victims
July 29, 1999
Web posted at: 5:28 p.m. EDT
(2128 GMT)
Latest developments:
An angry former
customer of an investment
firm opened fire in an
Atlanta office building, Two
Security Center
Police now are searching
buildings seven and eight of
Piedmont Center, an
adjacent office complex for
the suspect
The suspect is described
as a white male, 6 feet 4
inches, wearing glasses and
blue or tan shorts, with a
recedeing hairline
CNN has confirmed at
least nine shooting victims:
Two men are undergoing
surgery and are in critical
condition at St. Joseph's
Hospital, and seven victims
have been taken to Grady
Memorial Hospital in
downtown Atlanta
ATLANTA (CNN) -- An angry former customer of a
stock day- trading firm returned to the office Thursday
afternoon and methodically opened fire with two guns,
killing at least five people and injuring at least four
others, the company's chairman told CNN.
Police have not confirmed any fatalities. CNN affiliate
WSB-TV was reporting that as many as four people
may have been killed, based on police radio traffic.
Three local hospitals had been alerted to prepare for
possible victims. A spokesperson at Grady Memorial
Hospital told CNN that seven victims had been brought
there for treatment, three in critical condition and four
in serious condition.
The shooting began about 3 p.m. on the third floor of a
building called Two Security Center in Buckhead, an
upscale commercial area in the northern part of the city.
Dozens of police officers, including SWAT teams, are
searching for a suspect in an adjacent office complex.
Harvey Houtkin, chairman and chief executive office of
All- Tech Investment Group, speaking to CNN from
the company's New Jersey headquarters, said the
gunman, whom he described as a former customer,
entered the Atlanta branch office and shot the office
manager and secretary at point-blank range.
The gunman then began firing on anyone inside the
office before moving outside, Houtkin said.
"He was shooting anyone just sitting there," said
Houtkin, who has been in touch with the branch office.
"My emotions are so crazy right now I don't know what
to say ... For something like this to happen is just
crazy."
Houtkin said a customer told him by phone that at least
nine people were shot and at least five had died.
Other witnesses told WSB that the shooting took place
at a leasing office on the third floor and that there was
at least one fatality in the leasing office.
A suspect, described as a white male about 6 feet, 4
inches tall with a receding hairline and wearing glasses,
may have fled from the building and crossed a busy
street that runs past it, WSB-TV reported.
Workers at several office buildings in the area were
evacuated, while others were advised to stay put and
take precautions.
"We're up here all by ourselves," said Kay Whitten,
who works for a CPA firm in the building. "We just
locked the door. We've got ourselves in a lockdown."
Correspondent Daryn Kagan and The Associated Press
contributed to this report. |
