Graduation parties are usually a time to celebrate, not the time to pull a gun on a person or to shoot other party-goers. Yet both of those things happened in connection with two graduation parties in Fayette County over the weekend.
One of the parties was held at a home on Annelise Park Drive off Flat Creek Trail near Sandy Creek Road. Two teens from other counties were shot in the leg, with as many as four shooters at the scene.
Sheriff Barry Babb said the May 21 graduation party was being hosted for a person from Atlanta, with deputies responding to the location after midnight.
What was supposed to have been a gathering of a small group of people resulted in 150-200 people in the area, Babb noted, adding that two groups got into a dispute while outside the home and in the area of the cul-de-sac after the party had essentially ended.
At one point, shots were fired and two males, one age 19 from Atlanta and the other an 18-year-old from College Park, were struck in the leg, said Babb.
One of the teens was on the scene when deputies arrived, while the other had already been transported to Piedmont Fayette Hospital by a private party.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing, though Babb said information to date suggests there may have been four shooters at the scene.
In the other graduation party incident, deputies on May 20 were called to the intersection of North Drive and Trail Point Circle off Ga. Highway 279 in reference to an assault with a firearm being reported by an Uber driver.
Babb said the Uber driver told deputies he was transporting two people, a male and a female, to a Briarlake Court residence, which was a short distance to the west.
The driver said he told his fares that he would drop them off on North Drive, which was approximately one block from the residence, due to the volume of traffic in the area, Babb said.
It was at that point that one of the passengers produced a handgun, pointed it at the driver and told him they would take his vehicle, said Babb.
Babb said the two exited the vehicle instead, with the Uber driver subsequently calling for deputies.
Deputies went to the residence, finding that the party had been advertised on social media, with 100-200 people at the location, Babb noted.
The responsible person at the home, Theran L. Shields, was charged with keeping a disorderly house and a social hosting violation, according to Fayette County Jail records.
[CORRECTED HEADLINE — only one person was arrested.]
Ah…North Fayette, i.e. South Riverdale area.
Cocoa puffs anyone?
Fayette becoming the New Riverdale !
And WE ALL KNOW who is responsible for these gun crimes, but they are allowed to get away with them because they are PERMANENT and PROFESSIONAK ‘VICTIMS’! 😡 🤬 🤯
Professional victims like Buffalo and Uvalde (today’s elementary school massacre with now 15 dead, the latest in gun violence) or Newtown or Sandy Hook or Parkland??
The “caps lock” really does little more than reveal your frustrated anger hidden behind a keyboard. Have some Metamucil.
I’m sure the parents of those precious, deceased students in Texas will be comforted by the “thoughts and prayers” of the N.R.A. members and bullet-driven politicians. After all, nothing is more soothing than seeing people shake their heads in disbelief at this type of carnage that is inevitable in a country with more guns than people.
“Moments of silence” are about as comforting. We should try maybe “moments of yelling and screaming”.
Hi Stanger Than Fiction.
I think if you look about 0% of the shooters, anywhere and all the time, past present and future are not NRA members.
I’ve always that it should be much harder to get “assault type guns”. Actually, my hunter friends don’t see the need for those guns.
If large capacity simi-auto military style guns and ammo were harder to get (based on age and an extra layer of license) I think the “quick buy and use” shootings would not be happening.
But it is always the evil minded individual with the will to kill that does the crime.
Opinion please.
Mr. Hardy – I agree with you. Most gun owners are responsible citizens who are sickened by these mass shootings. Any hunter that needs an automatic weapon to kill his prey should find another sport.
However, the N.R.A. organization grades politicians and directs money and allegiance to candidates who take extreme positions on any firearm regulation. Your suggestion of placing a barrier to obtaining a gun would degrade your report card with the NRA if you were running for office.
There will always be evil individuals, and I lament their presence as much as do you.
Gallup poll shows that 92% of Americans support background checks, 87% support more security (i.e., red flags), and 68% support raising the legal age to purchase certain firearms. Sure, the NRA props their candidates up for elections, but … it’s the actual hypocritical thinking voters that are electing them into office. I give you US Rep (R-GA) Drew Ferguson with a 92% NRA rating, that garnered 82.5% of the party vote last Tuesday.
Well said Doon.