Squabbles over mayonnaise, a bowling ball and a blocked car ended in gunfire. Teenagers shot other teenagers over perceived slights. Bystanders got caught in crossfire.
\nIn 2022, the number of homicides in the city of Atlanta ticked up for the third year in a row, ending at 170, nine more than the previous year and the highest tally since 1996. It\u2019s a problem not at all unique to Atlanta, as cities around Georgia and elsewhere have also reported more homicides in recent years.
\nExploreAtlanta’s 2022 homicide victims
\nA number of incidents involved youths, also a nationwide issue.\u00a0A 2022 Kaiser Family Foundation analysis\u00a0found that \u201cfirearms are now the No. 1 cause of death for children in the United States\u201d and that \u201cguns \u2013 including accidental deaths, suicides, and homicides \u2013 killed 4,357 children (ages 1-19) in the United States in 2020, or roughly 5.6 per 100,000 children. The U.S. is the only country among its peers that has seen a substantial increase in the rate of child firearm deaths in the last two decades.\u201d
\nCity leaders appeared with depressing regularity at crime scenes in 2022, often sounding exasperated.
\n\u201cI hate being here talking about kids and gunfire,\u201d Atlanta police Deputy Chief Charles Hampton Jr. said after a Midtown shooting right after Thanksgiving that killed a 12-year-old and 15-year-old; two 16-year-olds and a 15-year-old were later charged with murder. \u201cWe just ask parents to know where your kids are, know what they\u2019re doing. Check rooms. There\u2019s just too many guns in the hands of our youth.\u201d
\nOne of last year\u2019s youngest victims died just weeks into 2022. Grayson Matthew Fleming-Gray, who was 6 months old, was in his car seat on Jan. 24, 2022, when his mother\u2019s car was struck in a drive-by shooting.
\n\u201cThese children are bearing the burden and the pain of adults who are choosing to use guns to solve disputes,\u201d Mayor Andre Dickens said after the shooting. \u201cThe children are bearing this burden with their lives, and I\u2019m here to ask, and to demand, that it stop right now.\u201d
\nBy the end of 2022, there would be a total of 19 children and teens declared homicide victims.
\nExploreChildren, teens among 2022 shooting victims
\n\u201cThese young folks have been gunned down too soon and, unfortunately for their parents, they are going to have to bury a child,\u201d said Dickens, who attended the funeral home visitation after Grayson was shot. He took office a year ago after a mayoral election that centered around fighting crime, and has maintained a visible presence after deadly incidents, both to comfort grieving families and to urge an end to the violence.
\n\u201cPart of it is getting people to learn how to deescalate conflicts,\u201d he said. \u201cThe vast majority of our homicides are interpersonal \u2014 people that are acquaintances, people that are familiar to one another, domestic violence, you have a business relationship or a neighbor. They are angry. They have access to a gun. And they use it.\u201d
\nThe solution isn\u2019t going to be simple, city leaders have said.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re challenged because we cannot be in every living room, and we can\u2019t be at every slight or indiscretion, every perceived infidelity in a relationship, unpaid bills,\u201d Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said. \u201cWhere we can be is arresting individuals that are engaged in gang activity. Where we can be is shutting down drug operations in the city and arresting people that are illegally possessing guns and being in places that we know are generating violence.\u201d
\nPleas for help
\nDeerica Charles had done everything she knew to do.
\nShe was aware that her son, Zyion, 12, was hanging out with older kids and breaking into cars. Charles tried to get the police involved, even begging officers to arrest him.
\n\u201cI cried out for help,\u201d Charles said through her tears. \u201cI cried out for it. I promise y\u2019all, I cried out for it.\u201d
\nOn Nov. 26, Zyion was shot and killed on the 17th Street bridge in Midtown. Days later Cameron Jackson, 15, died after being injured in the same shooting.
\n\u201cAs a community, if we don\u2019t come together and get the conversation straight about the real issue that\u2019s going on, we\u2019re going to lose a generation,\u201d Tiffany Smith, Cameron\u2019s mother, said after his death.
\nThree weeks later, Malik Grover, 14, and Justin Powell, 16, were killed and three others injured when gunfire erupted at the Retreat at Greenbriar apartment complex in southwest Atlanta. Investigators say the violence stemmed from an argument on social media.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s heartbreaking and frustrating,\u201d Schierbaum said. \u201cWe have to ask ourselves, as a society, how do 12, 13, 14-year-olds have guns and they\u2019re committing crimes with guns?\u201d
\nDickens said parents need to be aware of where their children are and who they are with.
\n\u201cI\u2019m calling on parents to continue to know where their children are at all times,\u201d he said. \u201cKnowing where your teens are, knowing who their affiliates are, who they hang with and what they are up to.\u201d
\nAtlanta police believe the shooting on the 17th Street Bridge was likely gang-related and Cameron, whose family said he dreamed of boxing in the Olympics one day, was the target.
\n\u201cThere are gangs that are actively recruiting young people, particularly (kids who) are expelled from school or those that are detached from their families,\u201d Dickens said.<\/p>\n