Police Officers Involved in Shootout in O4W

OLD FOURTH WARD — UPDATED: 4:00 p.m. Dec. 20:

According to Atlanta Police Officer Kim Jones, at approximately 11:54 p.m. on Thursday, two off-duty Atlanta police officers were working extra jobs in full police uniform, and were seated in a marked APD vehicle in the nearby Zaxby’s parking lot at 425 Ponce De Leon Ave.

After hearing multiple gunshots coming from the area of Parkway Drive, the officers observed a black, four-door sedan backing northbound (towards Ponce de Leon Ave.) on Parkway at a high rate of speed.

According to Jones, one or more of the occupants was firing a gun in the southerly direction (towards North Ave.) that the sedan was backing away from. As the occupants observed the officers in their car, one or more of the occupants turned their guns in the direction of the officers and began firing.

After the officers returned fire, the sedan stopped and the shooting ceased. The officers were then able to take into custody two of the three occupants in the sedan.

The two men arrested, each charged with two counts of aggravated assault and one count of reckless conduct after being taken to Fulton County Jail, are Marcellus White, 26, of Snellville, and Derrick Newell, 38. 

ORIGINAL STORY

Atlanta police are investigating an overnight shootout that spanned the entire block of Parkway Drive.

The incident occurred on the street that divides Ponce de Leon and North avenues and has long been home to criminal activity involving violence, drugs and prostitution.

According to the police, the shooting began shortly before midnight and involved several shooters as officers did return fire. No one was hit by gunfire according to the police.

Early Friday morning, a witness told East Atlanta Patch that he heard “gun shots coming from a couple of silver trucks” on Parkway. The man said the shooting started near the Taco Bell located at 429 Ponce De Leon.

WSB reported that almost 70 evidence markers were present as investigators worked throughout the early morning hours Friday at the crime scene.

According to the news outlet, two arrests have been been made, but it is unknown at this time what sparked the shootings.

The area has a history of violence, including this past September, when a person was shot at an apartment at the intersection of North and Parkway.

Earlier this year, one man was killed and another critically injured during a shootout at the nearby North Plaza strip center.

This is a developing story and check back with Patch for updates.