Two adolescent males were arrested in connection to the shooting deaths of two other teens on the bridge adjacent to the Atlantic Station neighborhood in Atlanta.
The four minors were part of a group of boys who were escorted out of Atlantic Station on the night of Nov. 26, 2022, for “curfew violation[s] and unruly behavior.” While the teens were walking away from the shopping and restaurant district, some kind of commotion erupted on the bridge that precipitated the gunfire that killed Zyion Charles and Cameron Jackson.
Four other boys were also struck by bullets during the violent melee.
At a press conference Wednesday, Deputy Chief Charles Hampton Jr. said a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old have been arrested with the assistance of a fugitive task force and charged with two counts of murder, aggravated assault and a gang-related charge.
The identity of the two suspects is being withheld because they are minors.
The mother of Cameron Jackson said that, in actuality, four lives have been lost in this tragic and avoidable situation – the two boys that were killed and the two teens that took their lives.
“It’s heartbreaking on both sides because now we have lost four, four young boys. So, it’s heartbreaking,” Smith said according to Fox 5 Atlanta. “We had all the resources but the one thing we were unable to deal with was the community, the environment, the city.”
Residents and police have discussed measures to improve security and surveillance. The station reports that Atlanta City Councilwoman Keisha Waites wants minors barred from the Atlantic Station area after 7 p.m. Currently, the curfew is at 3 p.m. temporarily in the aftermath of the bloodshed.
