Crime & Safety

UPDATED: Jackson High School Gun Incident Linked to 30 Deep Gang

School officials and Atlanta police say nobody boarded the bus and it's unclear if there was a gun.

UPDATED: The Atlanta Police Department told East Atlanta Patch the March 25 bus incident stems from gang-related fighting between groups of girls at Jackson High School. One group of girls is allegedly linked to the 30 Deep gang. According to Atlanta Police Officer Kim Jones, "there were some kids involved in a fight on the bus (today on APS Bus No. 548) and that one of the participants called their mother to come to the scene."  The mother tracked down the bus with her boyfriend in her car.  Jones said witnesses reported, "a woman came to the scene in a red Grand Prix with a male who pointed a gun at the occupants of the bus."  The woman's daughters, who were on the bus, escaped through a rear exit, according to a Tweet sent out by Atlanta Public Schools.

Atlanta police investigators were able to track down the car and address of the woman who stopped the school bus, and they went to question her and the man who was seen pointing a gun at the bus. According to Jones, the woman stated that the man was not at her home, but that he was her boyfriend and that he, "had a TV remote and was pretending as if he had a gun to scare the intended targets who ran off."

Jones stated that a warrant is currently being prepared for this suspect's arrest, though she did not state his charges.

Find out what's happening in East Atlantawith free, real-time updates from Patch.


ORIGINAL POST: The Atlanta Police Department and Atlanta Public Schools security officials are investigating a Monday morning incident in which high school students claim that a man approached their school bus and brandished a gun.

Initial reports came via Twitter stating that children were seen running from a school bus and that a man with a weapon had boarded the bus near Ralph David Abernathy and McDaniel Street and hit a student. 

Find out what's happening in East Atlantawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Stephen Alford, spokesperson for Atlanta Public Schools, told East Atlanta Patch that the some of the Tweets people have seen were false.

"There was never anyone on the bus," Alford said. "The incident happened outside of the bus, and it is unclear if a weapon was actually brandished."

Alford said that the incident apparently stemmed from a fight that happened Friday between female students.  We originally reported that this fight occurred at Maynard Jackson High School, Principal Stephanie Johnson informed East Atlanta Patch that the fight actually occurred in the community not on campus.

Sgt. Gregory Lyon of the Atlanta Police Department offered this account in an email:

"An adult male arrived at the bus stop to confront individuals that were fighting last week.  He did not force the bus to stop.  A couple of children claimed to have seen him holding a gun, however, he did not point it at anyone." 


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