East Atlanta Shooting: Police Blanket Southeast Atlanta

EAST ATLANTA — In a visible show of force aimed at allaying safety concerns amidst a crime wave that has beset Southeast Atlanta, police blanketed several neighborhoods Tuesday.

From East Atlanta and Ormewood Park to Glenwood Park and Grant Park, a noticeable increase was seen throughout the day into the evening hours as the department looks to solve a series of violent crimes. In May alone that included two shooting deaths in East Atlanta and a shooting of an Atlanta Braves fan walking home in Grant Park.

Atlanta Police Chief George N. Turner, who was East Atlanta Tuesday, told Fox 5 Atlanta the crimes might be linked.

"We believe a string of crimes that have occurred [are] really similar to the same m/o that had occurred the other night," Fox 5 quoted Turner as saying. "We've got someone that’s extremely dangerous without really any justification.”

In Grant Park, officers conducted a canvass of the neighborhood Tuesday, looking for any leads from residents in the shooting that left Saman Balkhanian, 22, blinded in one eye, when two assailants robbed him on Georgia Avenue near Grant Street. Balkhanian was walking home from an Atlanta Braves game when attacked.

In Glenwood Park, which has had several armed holdups in recent months, a police officer was seen patrolling that neighborhood on foot Tuesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the department's Crime Stoppers van was stationed in North Ormewood Park at the heavily trafficked intersection of Moreland and Glenwood avenues.

Atlanta Homicides Year-to-Date

The show of extra police personnel follows a Sunday conference call Turner had with his senior staff to address the crime wave.

As a result of that pow-wow, Turner authorized:

• Overtime hours for extrta patrols that will continue into the summer. That should result in more foot and bicycle patrols.
• Community Oriented Policing unit will conduct a security assessment to determine where cameras and additional lighting are needed in East Atlanta.
• All security cameras will be linked to the Police Foundation's Video Integration Center.

The extra police aren't coming at the expense of beat officers to other communities, officials said. Rather, APD is redeploying some officers from different units assigned to specific crimes.

Kevin Spigener, president of the East Atlanta Community Association, told 11Alive News the neighborhood is expanding its its residential security patrol to include the core East Atlanta Village.

Those expanded patrols, slated to start this weekend, will cost EACA $45,000 and the organization will hold a number of fundraisers to pay for it, the news station reported.

Lighting at night remains an issue on several side streets in East Atlanta.

On May Avenue, where homeowner Patrick Cotrona was shot and killed in a robbery Saturday night, the street lights that have been non-operational for weeks remained non-functioning.

The broken lights, which police said they would contact Georgia Power Co. to repair aren't just an issue on the side streets in the neighborhood.

Flat Shoals Avenue, one of the main arteries in East Atlanta, has its problems, too. One street light on Flat Shoals at the May Avenue intersection had been out for weeks though on Tuesday night it was lit.

Residents and visitors alike also note that the Georgia Power-owned lot off Flat Shoals and May that doubles as the site for the East Atlanta Farmers Market, also sits in darkness.

The lack of lighting there has resulted in a rash of vehicle break-ins.

Mayhem In May — A Rundown of Crime in East Atlanta Patch communities this month:

• Two Shot Overnight in Moreland Avenue Fracas
• Man Alleges Carjacking at Memorial Drive BP
• Gunman Robs Woodland Hills Little Caesar's
• Three Robbed in Reynoldstown at Gunpoint in Two Separate Incidents
• UPDATED: Man Shot Dead in East Atlanta Robbery
• Armed Robbery in Glenwood Park
• Man Robbed at Gunpoint on Stokeswood Avenue
• UPDATED: Man Shot in Grant Park Robbery
• Dead Body Found on East Atlanta Street
• Catalytic Converter Theft Warning Issued for Honda Element Owners
• Man Shot in Face Outside an Old Fourth Ward House Party
• Another "Apple Picking" Street Theft of an iPhone at Gunpoint
• Police Nab Three Gunmen in Robbery at Tin Lizzy's Parking Lot
• Woman Robbed Walking to Bus Stop in Grant Park