Police arrested the man accused of shooting up a waiting room at the Northside Medical building in midtown Atlanta on Wednesday, killing one woman and injuring four others, the Associated Press reported.
According to police, Deion Patterson, 24, who had an appointment at a medical office in the building, opened fire shortly after he arrived. He then fled the building to a nearby gas station where he stole a pickup that had been left idling unattended. After a manhunt, Atlanta police caught up with Patterson in Cobb County just outside of the city.
Pronounced dead at the scene was 39-year-old Amy St. Pierre. The four other women injured in the shooting have not been identified. They were all listed in stable condition Wednesday night.
During CNN’s coverage on Wednesday, anchor Jim Sciutto interviewed a woman named Tyrisia Woods who works two floors down from the scene of the shooting. She described hearing gunshots from above and how she locked down her facility to ensure the safety of the patients.
Woods claimed that security in the Northside Medical building is insufficient, especially since there have been other “active shooters” in midtown Atlanta that caused buildings to lock down. She said Northside Medical does not have metal detectors or police officers guarding the facilities, which she thinks is necessary since it is located in Midtown.
Woods added that she has worked at the facility for nearly five years, and Wednesday’s shooting was the fourth time an active shooter in the area caused a lockdown since she has worked there.
A melodramatic Sciutto gasped at Woods’ claim, saying that what she said was “shocking” for the people watching.
The suspect’s mother, Minyone Patterson, who took him for his appointment on Wednesday, told the Associated Press that her son was experiencing “some mental instability” from the medication he started taking last week.
Ms. Patterson blamed the VA for her son’s shooting spree, telling the Associated Press that Deion, a former Coast Guardsman, wanted to be put on Ativan for his anxiety, but the VA refused to prescribe it because it is addictive. Patterson did not say what medication was prescribed instead.
