ATLANTA — Atlanta Police have charged a 16-year-old who fired at officers in southwest Atlanta. The police response led to a neighborhood lockdown.
Police said the teen fired shots at the officers on Joseph E. Lowery Blvd, ran from the scene and hid in a vacant house. SWAT teams responded and went inside the house. They found the teen hiding in the woods and took him into custody.
The latest developments, LIVE on Channel 2 Action News at Noon.
Students who attend Booker T. Washington say reports of the gunfire forced police to enter their school during an after school event.
The students were there for a homecoming coronation ball when they say officers raced into the school with long guns telling them to find a safe place to shelter.
When Channel 2’s Tom Jones arrived at the scene, he saw police everywhere. He also saw parents who had picked up their kids and were in a hurry to get them home.
But one parent stopped and talked to Jones and allowed her kids to tell him what they saw.
Macarius Thomas had been crowned Freshman of the Year 2025. That’s when he saw police with long guns race into the school.
“They talking about somebody shooting outside. So we run in the classroom. They shut the lights off. Under the desk, I’m thinking it’s fixing to be a school shooting.”
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His sister gave Jones video of officers inside the gym with long guns. She says they told everyone to find a safe place to shelter.
“I was very scared. And the man was like be quiet don’t say nothing. And I thought I was going to die,” Serenity Thomas explained.
Their mother, Sharhonda Thomas, says she was at the school, proud to see her kids recognized for their accomplishments.
“All of a sudden, everyone heard gunshots.”
Student Shariah Walker, who was crowned Ms. Varsity Cheerleader 2025, says she was in the hallway when she saw police.
“I just know the police came back there with like big guns and told us to go in the classroom and close the door and get in the back of class.”
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Outside the school, we saw dozens of police racing around the campus, with lights and sirens. They blocked off several streets.
With the school on lockdown, parents waited to get their kids. But Sharhonda Thomas was already inside the school with hers. She says a night to celebrate her kids was interrupted by police searching for a shooter. “So they shut the school down. And they shut the event down.”
Thomas says that despite the chaos, she and her kids felt somewhat safe. Thanks to police and school leaders.
“They handled it very, very well.”
Atlanta Public Schools says students and parents were allowed to enter and exit on the school’s MLK Jr. Drive side of the building.
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