US: One killed, four injured in shooting at medical facility in Atlanta, suspect arrested

At least one person has been killed andfourothers were injured after a shooting incident in the US state of Georgia's capital city of Atlanta, on Wednesday (May 3), said theAtlanta Police Department. The manaccused of opening fire in the waiting room of amedical facility in Atlanta on Wednesday, killing a woman and wounding four others, was arrested in a neighbouring county after hours ofmanhunt, police said.

Atlanta police announced the arrest of suspect Deion Patterson, 24, at around 8 p.m., almost eight hours after the deadly shooting shortly after noon.

The police department had earlier issued a "shelter in place" alert and said they are investigating an active shooter in the Midtown Atlanta'sNorthside Hospital Medical, area of 1110 W Peachtree St NW.Theshelter-in-place order has sincebeen lifted in Midtown Atlanta, said police officials.

Police officers clustered outside the front entrance of the Northside Medical buildingwhile multiple helicopters hovered overhead.

"Three have been transported to the hospital for treatment and a fourth has been pronounced deceased on scene," said local police officials, adding that they have notheard any additional shots.

The police department hadreleased images of the suspect and said, "Basedon our preliminary investigation, these are photos believed to be of the active shooter."

The suspect,lateridentified asDeion Patterson (24), was arrested after an hours-long manhunt, "The suspect is in custody,"said the APD, without giving any further details.

According to an alert, he wasdescribed asa Black male wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt, black pants and brown shoes.

Images and videos of the site where the incident took place showed multiplepoliceand other emergency vehicles. Based on the initial investigation, police have said that the shooting occurredafter a man became enraged during a trip to the medical facility.

According toGrady Memorial Hospital, among those injured, three were in critical condition and one was stable, reported CBS News.According toAtlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum, there were five victims in total all of whom were women aged between 25 to 71. One woman, aged 39,died from her injuries. However, no other information was released about the victims.

AtlantaPublic Schools said several schools in the area would operate on external lockdown for the rest of the day "out of an abundance of caution." Meanwhile,Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said that he is in "close contact" with the APD and that those in the area should "shelter in place".

Police cordoned blocks of streets in Midtown, impeding the flow of traffic in the district. According to media reports, anhour after the gunfire, a SWAT team gathered near the High Art Museum, which is around one kilometre away from the shooting scene.

Meanwhile, theNorthside Hospitalalso took to Twitter and said they are "cooperating with law enforcement" after the shooting and urged everyone to "shelter in place and follow instructions from law enforcement on the scene."

Police detail the hours-long manhunt

In a press conference following the hours-long manhunt, Atlanta Police Deputy Chief Charles Hampton said, the suspectwent inside Northside Medical Midtown just before noon andshot the first victim not long after.Pattersonallegedly useda handgun in the attackbefore fleeing the scene on foot andwent to a nearby Shell station.

Subsequently, he reportedly took an unattended pickup truck and 20 minutes later cameras picked up the vehicle’s tag number and police were alerted, said Hampton. The police were alerted shortly after about the suspect being inCobb County, just northwest of Atlanta.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE