The building where I work in Midtown Atlanta was put on lockdown this afternoon after a shooting at the Arts Center MARTA Station a short distance away. No fatalities were reported. I'm not sure what time the incident occurred but I had just walked by there during m lunch hour.
I alerted my supervisors by email and they were worried for my safety. Given that we are only 8 days removed from the Atlanta spa shootings which claimed the lives of 8 people I can imagine my message might have triggered more alarm than usual although I clearly stated I was in no danger. I must confess I was more worried about not being able to leave the building on time. Fortunately, the situation was resolved and was able to leave work on time.
Nevertheless there has been a lot of violent crime in Atlanta recently. Just last night I was alerted by my cousin (the same cousin who helped me find my apartment) that there was a shooting about a block away from the entrance to Piedmont Park where I walk from home to work everyday. Again no fatalities were reported.
A couple of Saturdays ago there was a shooting on the 1000 block of Peachtree Street near the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. I was walking on that block a couple of hours before the incident occurred. Once again this did not result in a fatality. A little over a month ago, my cousin also alerted me someone was robbed at gunpoint on my street. I sometimes take walks on my street at night for some fresh air. It is also happens to be lovely treelined street. My walks have been less frequent since that time.
In late November there was the brawl which took place at the newly opened Bowlero Atlantic Station. I had been there a couple of weeks earlier and had contemplated going back there that day but opted to go duckpin bowling instead.
I don't know if Atlanta is any more dangerous than Boston or New York City, but it sure feels that way. Perhaps it's been my proximity to these incidents. When it happens with such frequency and within a short space of time one cannot help but wonder if I will eventually find myself in the wrong place and the wrong time.
Of course such things can happen anywhere. I lived in Ottawa for nearly a decade. I still remember the Sunday nearly 27 years ago when British born engineer Nicholas Battersby was shot to death walking on Elgin Street by a teenager who wanted to kill someone to see what it felt like. I remember that killing because I walked that same street only an hour before he did. But for the Grace of God....
The question of public safety is often a matter of perception. Although Atlanta is not listed in the 50 most dangerous cities in America this is of cold comfort to a lot of residents of this cities and Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has been taking heat over it from members of her own city council especially after a 7-year old girl was killed outside a mall in Buckhead in December. Violent crime did increase in Atlanta last year, but it also increased nationwide. So this isn't confined to Atlanta but it is a problem Bottoms will have to deal with as she is seeking re-election this year and faces a tough opponent in Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore.
I must keep in mind Atlanta is still a somewhat unfamiliar place to me. I've been here almost five months and have not been to Downtown Atlanta. And then there's the small detail of a global pandemic which has made me reluctant to venture out very far without a specific purpose. COVID-19 has put our collective anxiety into interstellar overdrive and the thought of being randomly and violently accosted does little to ease said anxiety.
For better or for worse, I will be in Atlanta for the foreseeable future. All I can do is make the best of it. And make sure I keep my eyes and ears open and my wits about me.
UPDATE: The Atlanta PD had a busy afternoon. Aside from the shooting at the Arts Center MARTA station, there was the subduing of a man carrying five firearms and wearing body armor at a Publix supermarket at Atlantic Station scarcely 48 hours after 10 people were killed at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado.
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