Chaos ensued in Midtown Atlanta on Monday afternoon as a woman shot three people leaving two dead and one injured. Wesley Freeman has been identified as one of the victims who died while Michael Shinners is the other. Read on to know what happened.
The police blocked off the front of the 1280 West condominium building for much of Monday afternoon as they investigated a deadly shooting. The lockdown was lifted around the evening as the suspect was caught at the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
During a news conference after the arrest of the woman, the police said the shooting was “not random” and the victims were specifically targeted. Officials didn’t reveal the motive behind the crime but Channel 2 Action News reports the woman lived in the building of the incident.
Midtown Atlanta Shooting on Monday, August 22: What Happened?
On Monday, August 22, 2022, a shooting took place at two Midtown locations in Atlanta leaving two people dead and one critically injured. The first shots were fired at around 1:45 PM leaving Michael Shinners, 60, dead at the shooting scene, the 1280 West condominium building on West Peachtree Street.
As the police were responding to the crime where they found another victim severely injured alongside Shinners, another shooting took place at an office tower at 1100 Peachtree Street around 2:15 PM.
Wesley Freeman, 41, was shot this time. He was taken to the Grady Memorial Hospital where the medical examiners declared him dead. The police continued to investigate the shooting as the gates were blocked. The residential condos remained locked down till 6:30 PM.
Raissa Kengne Identified as the Suspect in Midtown Atlanta Shooting
Raissa Kengne, a Business Transformation Consultant at IBM, has been identified as the suspect in the Midtown Atlanta shooting. The police tracked her in the international terminal of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport around 4 PM on Monday.
She has been taken into custody and charged with two counts of Murder, three counts of Aggravated Assault, two counts of False Imprisonment, and two counts of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of or Attempt to Commit Certain Felonies.
The police used the security offices at several Midtown towers to help with the manhunt as revealed by the interim police Chief Darrin Schierbaum.
Kengne was arrested before going through security and entering a restricted area of the airport. The police also found a 9mm Glock pistol in her purse, which is the weapon used in the shooting.
The Midtown Neighbors Association earlier shared a photo of the suspect on social media showing Kengne wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt with horizontal black and white stripes.
Wesley Freeman, 41, Shot Dead in Midtown Atlanta Shooting
Wesley Freeman is one of the two people fatally shot in Midtown Atlanta on Monday. He was the person hit by the bullet in the second shooting and was taken to the Grady Memorial Hospital where he died later.
Freeman’s LinkedIn page states that he was the managing director of the Assurance group at BDO. He was promoted to an officer of the company in 2005. He then became the managing director of the firm in 2022.
Freeman was a graduate assistant at Georgia Southern University’s College of Business Administration. He also helped the professors in the Department of Finance to do quantitative research and regression modeling with Oracle and SPSS.
Wesley Freeman went to George Southern University for both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. He went back to college in 2016 to get another Masters in professional accounting.
Who are the other Victims of the Midtown Atlanta Shooting?
The other two victims in the Midtown Atlanta shooting are Michael Shinners and Mike Horne. Shinners, 60, was the first to be found dead while Horne was found severely injured alongside him.
President of Beacon Management Services Lisa Simmons whose company managed 1280 West identified the surviving victim as Chief Building Engineer Mike Horne. Simmons says that Horne remains hospitalized and his condition is currently unknown.
Michael Shinners was a Property Manager by profession. His body has been sent for autopsy and the funeral will take place later. We’ll keep you updated on further developments in the case.