Police arrest suspect in fatal mass shooting at Atlanta medical centre

ATLANTA – Police have arrested the man suspected of killing one woman and wounding four others in a shooting spree on Wednesday at a medical building in midtown Atlanta, Georgia, then carjacking a vehicle to flee the scene, the authorities said. 

The accused gunman, identified as 24-year-old Deion Patterson, is a former United States Coast guardsman.

Atlanta police had described the suspect earlier as “armed and dangerous”.

Patterson was taken into custody north of the city in suburban Cobb County, several hours after the 12.30pm shooting at Northside Medical, the authorities said. 

The Cobb County Police Department announced the arrest on Twitter. No details were immediately provided. 

Cobb County police earlier said Patterson was last spotted in images captured shortly after the shooting by a surveillance camera in the vicinity of the parking garage where the carjacked vehicle was later recovered.

All five victims slain or wounded in the attack were women.

Atlanta police chief Darin Schierbaum told a press conference that it was too early in the investigation to determine if they had been deliberately targeted, or if they were patients or employees. 

The gunman arrived at the medical centre with his mother, the chief said, but she was not injured. Police said she was cooperating with investigators. 

Little was immediately known about the suspect’s background. 

The US Coast Guard said Patterson joined the guard in July 2018 and was discharged from active duty in January, after having last served as an electrician’s mate second class. No reason for his discharge was given.

The four wounded women, all of whom were adults, were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital.

Three victims were in critical condition and undergoing surgery, while the fourth was being treated in the emergency room, the hospital’s chief medical officer Robert Jansen said during a news conference.

Mr Schierbaum described them as “fighting for their lives”.

Atlanta Public Schools said several schools in the area would operate on external lockdown for the rest of the day as a precaution. REUTERS