One dead, one critically injured in overnight shooting off North Ave

One man is dead and another is in critical condition following a barrage of bullets at a strip center near the intersection of North Avenue and Boulevard late Monday evening.

According to Atlanta Police Officer Kim Jones, shortly after 10 p.m. police officers were responding to a 911 call concerning illegal gambling at the North Plaza strip center just south of Midtown in the Old Fourth Ward when shots were fired.

Jones said that when officers arrived on the scene, a black male ran to the officers with a gunshot wound to the torso. He was transported to Grady Memorial hospital where he is listed in critical condition.   

A second victim was transported from the intersection of Boulevard and North to the nearby Atlanta Medical center where he was pronounced deceased from a gunshot wound to the torso.

APD homicide unit commander Lt. Paul Guerrucci told WSB TV that people were fleeing the parking lot everywhere as “at least 20 shots were fired” during the incident in which the two men in their 20s were hit.

It is not known if the men shot were the intended targets or were just caught up in the crossfire. Police believe there were two gunmen who opened fired, but no arrests have been made at this time.

A pre-dawn visit to the crime scene, located on the southwest corner of North and Boulevard at 455 North, revealed a quiet parking lot where only hours before had been the scene to chaos that ended deadly. Shattered glass was still on the sidewalk outside the coin laundry, while an investigative evidence marker indicated where a bullet hit another laundry window.

The plaza is anchored by the Family Dollar and is also home to a Sherwin Williams and Wings & Subs restaurant.