Two people were fatally shot and one was wounded when a woman opened fire at two separate Atlanta
Midtown locations on Monday afternoon August 22, leading to a search that ended in her arrest at an airport.
The woman was arrested two hours after the last shot was fired.
Police say the woman, Raïssa Kengne, a Cameroonian? specifically targeted her victims.
Westley Freeman, 41, of Atlanta, and Michael Shinners, 60, of Alpharetta, were both killed in the shooting, the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office says.
Notably, both Mr Freeman and Mr Shinners were named as defendants in a lawsuit filed by Raïssa Kengne earlier this year, claiming that they were involved in a conspiracy against her.
Freeman’s LinkedIn page describes him as an information security auditor who has worked at Ms Kengne’s former employer for nearly 17 years while Shinners is identified in Ms Kengne’s lawsuit as the general manager of her apartment complex at 1280 West Peachtree St.
In a 407-page complaint, Raissa Djuissi Kengne accuses her former employer of conspiring with her building management company, her neighbours, and her own previous lawyers in order to retaliate against her.
“This case concerns the retaliation, persecution, harassment, intimidation, threats, burglary, computer hacking, phone spoofng, and other attacks the Plaintiff was subjected to upon reporting to the relevant authorities a violation of [various finance laws],” the complaint reads.
Also a week ago, she took to her LinkedIn page, to attack the two victims accusing them of also being the reason she started her own company.
Around 1:46 p.m on Monday, Atlanta police say they received a call reporting a shooting at 1280 W. Peachtree Street, at the corner of 16th Street. Officers arrived at the 40-story 1280 West condo building to find two people shot. Police say one person was dead and another was rushed to an area hospital.
Around 2 p.m, a second 911 call was placed, again reporting a shooting. This time it was at 1100 Peachtree Street. Officers arrived at the Eleven Hundred Peachtree executive office building to find one person injured by apparent gunfire. The victim was also rushed to an area hospital.
“The lookout for both of the shooters, we found out quickly, was the same person. It was a female that was matching the same description that was seen in this area,” said Interim Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum.
“That triggered an immediate response from this department as it was indicative of a possible active shooter situation.”
Just after the shooting, Police officers from multiple federal, state, and local agencies descended into the heart of Midtown and an alert was put out asking people to avoid the area as well as residents and workers to shelter in place.
“APD trains regularly for these types of incidents,” said Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens.
A nearly 100-acre section of Midtown was flooded with officers all searching for the suspect. As officers were arriving at the scene, video technicians and analysts at Atlanta police headquarters were already on the job.
“We were able to utilize our camera network, which is vast and that was able to quickly help us quickly track down the suspect,” said Dickens.
Police quickly received tips from citizens who told them the suspect had entered the Colony Square campus.
Active shooter at my job. Colony square. Midtown atlanta. Juniper and 14th street. pic.twitter.com/Pa2QgjlY6P
— Biggest Capricorn (@RLPCFelix) August 22, 2022
“Now, we receiving various tips that gave a possible scenarios that may have been unfolding that the shooter could still be in the area or the shooter could have left the area, and that’s why you saw a city-wide search transpiring,” Chief Schierbaum said.
The search eventually led police to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport where she was caught and handcuffed.
“We deployed resources there, both city resources as well as our federal partners. And a short time later, at around 4 o’clock this afternoon, we were able to take into custody the individual we believe shot individuals at both West Peachtree as well as Peachtree Street,” said Chief Schierbaum.
A photo shared with FOX 5 shows the woman, dressed in a very distinct black and white striped shirt and blue jeans, standing handcuffed in front of the Truist Bank ATMs in the South Terminal. That photo was taken two hours after the last shot was fired. The woman had the same outfit and rolling suitcase as the woman seen in earlier suspect images released by police.
“The suspect was apprehended prior to being in any controlled areas of the airport,” said Dickens.
Police say officers seized a handgun at the airport which investigators believe was used in both shootings.
“We do not believe these were random acts of violence. We do believe these individuals were likely targeted,” the chief said.
Police said a second victim later died at the hospital.
