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One Killed, Eight Injured When Gunfire Erupts At Atmore Graduation Party
May 18, 2019
One person was killed and eight others were injured when gunfire erupted at a graduation party attended by hundreds of people in Atmore early Saturday morning.
Atmore Police officers could hear the gunfire around the property when they arrived at a community center in the former Escambia County Middle School on Martin Luther King Drive about 2 a.m.
A male gunshot victim was found deceased in the cafeteria of the building, according to Atmore Police Chief Chuck Brooks.
“Preliminary reports indicate a graduation party was being held in the cafeteria. Witnesses stated a fight broke out between two females. While trying to separate the females, numerous gunshots was fired inside the building hitting several individuals. The unknown suspects fled to the parking lot where several more gunshots were fired striking more victims,” Brooks said.
The eight injured individuals were transported to Atmore Community Hospital for treatment. One of the victims was airlifted to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola. Their conditions were not available.
Names and ages of the victims have not been released as Atmore Police continue their investigation.
Any with information is asked to contact the Atmore Police Department at (251) 368-9141.
NorthEscambia.com file photos.
Comments
40 Responses to “One Killed, Eight Injured When Gunfire Erupts At Atmore Graduation Party”
The City of Atmore DOES NOT own the building. The Escambia County Board of Education owns the building. It just happens to be brick and mortar in the City Limits.
If you go back and read the report, there was alcohol found. There is absolutely nothing that anyone can do to change what happened, what can be done is to be proactive as a County, City, and Citizens to assure that this doesn’t happen again. Talk is cheap! I want to win the Lottery, but if I don’t buy a ticket….what are the chances of winning? NONE! If we as a community DO NOT start working together to make this a better place, it will remain non-progressive. If we as a community DO NOT take some responsibility and buy into BEING the change….it will never happen. Several things I know for sure (1) We are ready to tell how to solve it, yet we aren’t willing to do the work to make it happen (2) Our children get out of school and then we believe we aren’t needed there anymore, yet we continue to pay taxes to support our school system. (3) Many haven’t visited a classroom in years or offered to help. (4) We ONLY see the negative…..you should visit some of these other small towns ….they don’t have it as good as we do. Recently I visited one that doesn’t have a grocery store, Walmart, hospital , etc. (5) We aren’t thankful for what we do have! (6) Kids want structure, discipline, but most of all LOVE. When is the last time you hugged a child that didn’t belong to you or that you even knew. It’s not hard to do. I recently had a small child come up to me in
Walmart and wrap her arms around my legs. To this day I do not know who this child was, but it made my day. It made me a little kinder for that day.
Let’s do our part!
This is an unfortunate situation for these families, and the town.
You cannot point fingers at the police, school, or town. Here is another reason a City School will not fix the problem of the youth of Atmore. Parents parenting will fix the problem. The parents that hosted this party and charged $10 per person should be giving back to the families.
And I’m guessing everyone has selective amnesia now.
This is such a sad, sad situation!!!! Going to a celebration for Graduation, and losing your life, or being shot!!!! Atmore has its problems, but tearing down a building isn’t going to solve them!! It is going to take alot of Prayer, and a Mighty touch from God!! Everyone please be mindful of the families in your comments!! Praying for all involved!!!!
Not too many good things happen at 2am….the destination of the deceased soul is already settled, what about you? Have you made preparation for you soul, for when you draw your last breath? Did you know more people are going to hell than heaven? Its not an automatic destination for all…. Do you have the basic instructions before leaving earth?
@L
There’s a reason people are leaving Atmore and moving to areas like Spanish Fort and Pace. At least the ones who can afford to are.
Welcome to the New Atmore! We are so low on officers anymore that there isn’t even any presence on the roads. When was the last time you saw a car pulled over in Ratmore for anything? Guns and drugs are sold daily under the table and we no longer have a police department that know what the hell they are doing and just let it grow. Atmore High will be the next Columbine soon. The city government has given up on the community and we are all on our own! Stay Locked and Loaded!
To the swaggering tg who said on May 19th, 2019 7:37 am
“Never attend a graduation party at 2am without your firearm.”
How about not attending a party at all if you think you need a firеarm to attend it?
In general, what Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton say about this “culture”, where are their voices? What about setting priorities to the youth?
Please folks, slow down and think. Atmore has several thousand very good people that are hardworking, church going people so please don’t let a few idiots taint your view of the town. I was a deputy on the West end several years ago and made friends with many people including the present police supervision. I pray for the leo’s In atmore and surrounding areas because of what seems like a useless jobs of arresting some of these nuts.. usually jail is better living conditions than what their accustomed to not because their poor but because they are too sorry to get a legitimate job and it’s not on the street corner selling dope or stealing stuff. Maybe we need to give them all guns and let them fix their own problems. Just saying
Someone said, “Atmore just isn’t the same place it was when I was growing up.” And others are making comments that Atmore has declined, etc. No, the truth is that the world is not the place we grew up in and Atmore is like any other place in the world, it has changed because of the decline in regard for human life and for the original intended direction of this country. So, don’t make jabs at Atmore. Make jabs at the country we have allowed ourselves to become.
atmore has had a problem for a long time. only a blind person can’t see it. everyone knows what it is. deal with it.
Never attend a graduation party at 2am without your firearm.
I don’t agree with tearing the building down, and I also don’t agree with the statement that a high school party shouldn’t be going on at 2 in the morning. Being from atmore and living there for 21 years, I can say it’s not the most lively place to grow up, or live in general. And the whole “big city violence comes to small town USA” is a ridiculous remark. That behavior is everywhere. There is no running from it or moving to a place it doesn’t exist. So what if the party was going on at 2 am? It’s a celebration of graduating High school, let the kids have some fun. There is nothing else for them to do around town. Security measures should have been in place, but all the security in the world is not going to stop punks from shooting, which sadly has taken the place of fighting. Everybody is ready to pull a gun because they are too afraid of getting embarrassed when they lose a fight. The party could have been anywhere in town and the outcome would have been no different. Like everything else, behavior and respect is taught at the house, but those are two things, with common sense being the third thing, that parents do not teach their kids anymore. I am sincerely sorry to all the people who were injured and their families, especially the young kid that got killed, but if anybody thinks tearing down a building is going to change anything, I feel just as sorry for them, because that way of thinking is a big part of the problem. Hopefully justice will find its way to the criminals, and peace and closure will find its way to the victims and their families. Atmore is not a bad place to grow up or to live forever, but if the young folks are not taught how to be responsible adults at home, then no place in the world is safe. Remember idiots are like germs….they are everywhere, and regardless of what people say, spraying them with Lysol doesn’t get rid of them, it just pisses them off.
I have 4 daughters they all graduated from High School, they all attended their graduation parties but the rule was they had to be home by 12:00 mid night. I did have to pick up my youngest one but she called me because she did not have a ride to get home. So we as parents much have control and they must be responsible which we have to teac them.
Beki you are making a lot of assumptions there did you attend the event in question? How do you know it was rented to a bunch of teenagers? Also how do you know alcohol was involved? No where in this article did it say anything of the kind. This is how fake news gets started one person making a bunch of false claims that they have no way of knowing is true they just “feel” these are facts and not assumptions.
As far as the folks calling to tear the building down why would that have prevented this from happening? This tragedy could have happened at any venue it was a fight that could happen anywhere that went horribly.
@TJ so you mean violence such as fights and shooting do not happen in small towns? Please ,please give me then name of the small town that these do not happen in so I can move my family there immediately.
How does the chief of police condemn a building?
If it wasn’t so dark in there more would probably been struck thank goodness it was to dark to see
I am truly hoping that who this person is and that did this will turn himself in, and man up to this responsibility for this there is only one way out of this God will not let you rest at all so please turn yourself in Please
REGARDING:
“I say tear it down today. There’s not enough money anyone could get by renting a building, that can replace the life of this young man.”
(Well meant to say “tear” again.)
The building had nothing to do with what people chose to do inside it — or outside it it for that matter. Not a good reason to tear down a building. They aren’t magic or cursed. Reading reports around the country might tempt one to think the solution would be to do away with the name Martin Luther King Drive, but that would be silly.
People make choices. Some have very bad results but buildings, streets, social events don’t cause them. Think of how many die in hospitals. Tearing them all down wouldn’t make sense.
David for comfort to those who mourn
and better people making better choices
And Rome is burning. Like Century, get out of Atmore while you still can.
ever since the courts took the aurthority away from the parents to whip the kids like we got growing up now the parents are raised by the kids only the parents won’t take the time to call the police and say take them i can’t handle them. taking the cell phone or computer away does not do nothing and time out is what we use to call in basketball and football. heard a seven year old kid tell his mom you whip me i will call the cops i would have called the cops for him and when they got ther i would have given him a whipping and then told them to take him wherever.
What does the building being torn down got to do with gun violence??? Its unbehaved kids that thinks guns is a problem solver but it ain’t. Prayers for the families.
It saddens me that this has happened. It saddens me also that our young people DO NOT have a Center to go to that provides a safe and healthy environment. Don’t be quick to place the blame on any individual/s it happened and we should learn a lesson from this and not let it happen again. We (everyone regardless of race) must learn to work together to provide our future with these safe and public environments. I’m sure the owner was told none of this would occur.
Prayers for all involved. Some Mother has lost a son. Other Mother’s have kids wounded, fighting for their lives, or now scared to go to anything. Atmore is hurting, but we are strong and we will get through this!
Tearing down the building accomplishes absolutely nothing. When arrests are finally made just look at the extensive history that those charged will likely have. The DA in Brewton will likely know all involved. I would like to see the available portion of the history made public for all to see. Then you will see what’s really going on with the criminal justice system. This will not stop until we force the system to allow these thugs to rot in jail.
It’s odd that so many people want to blame the building. That’s like blaming guns for shootings. As I recall about a year ago church groups rented a building at Sanders Beach in Pensacola for a meeting of the young people to not cause problems and before the night was over there were fights inside and outside and there may have been a shot fired in the parking lot. i also recall that a young man who worked at a car dealership in Atmore and was trying to redo an old building where the young people in Atmore could go and feel safe. After a long day of working two jobs he was taking a nap in his car.Two young people tried to rob him and ended up killing him and I think taking his shoes. The problem is partly the lack of respect for others and their selves. There can be blame for the violence in movies and “games”. A large party with a mix of adults and teems with alcohol being served is an invitation for trouble.
And then shooter was voted then most likely to succeed, life in prison and retain the ability to vote.
I disagree with the calls for the owner to tear down the building. The owner could never have anticipated a melee shooting. The thugs will just find some other location to party and the same trouble will follow them. For the people calling for the building’s demolishment, I highly doubt should you have a gathering at your home or building and something like this happen that you would have a bulldozer running through your property the following morning.
This graduation “party” got out of hand, too many outside people, not enough responsible adults present at all not to mention kids ages 13 and up being out at 2am?! Add the large percentage of people there drinking…most underage. Come on parents and responsible chaperones…where were you and why were these young kids out so late?? There were NINE victims at the hospital. Not 8. And one kid dead. So sad. And shame on how people acted at the hospital. I witnessed staff who were trying so hard to handle a total mess being cussed out and people acting like total fools. Those involved and their families need to do a lot of self examination into how you raise your kids, conduct yourselves, your values and what you consider important and worthwhile. What an embarrassment to Atmore.
Atmore has become little down town Prichard always something always violence you can’t trust anyone people have gone slap crazy
No way Atmore can ever reach your level of class Chris.
There’s always problems there. Why doesn’t the building get torn down? It’s just asking for trouble keeping it open. The owner should have enough heart to demolish the place now, after lives were lost. I’m in no way blaming the owner, but bring it down after death has occured. The understanding I have is that the owner agreed, but stipulated no alcohol…Just who did she rent the building to, teenagers? And who believes teenagers aren’t gonna have alcohol at a party?? Not me! I say year it down today. There’s not enough money anyone could get by renting a building, that can replace the life of this young man. Not to mention the injured. We are a small town, and this is totally uncalled for. If this keeps going on, I pray that the Chief of Police steps in and says enough is enough, and condemns the place. It is, after all, just barely standing. They also need to find out who provided this much alcohol to a group of children. I am thankful it wasn’t my family, best believe it would be petitioned to be brought down at the owners expense. My prayers go out to the family of the young man, as well as all the other victims.
This was a private party. This is not a school function, nor is it on school property. Apparently this was a HUGE party with lots of adults present. The only part of this situation that was even remotely related to schools was that the event being celebrated was a high school graduation. That being said, it’s so so sad that an event that should be such a happy time for everyone will be forever marked for these people by this tragedy. My heart goes out to their families.
When I lived in Atmore 45 years ago it was a lot different town than it is now. I attended a graduation there 10 years ago and felt very uneasy.
Stay classy Atmore.
The city needs to demo the building,it’s falling apart, events like this needs to have security, praying for everyone
Not a surprise now to hear about teenagers taking each other’s lives. We’ve bred a whole generation of young people who have no value in life so it means nothing to them to shoot each other. Prayers to the family of the deceased. Kid graduates and now a family gets to attend a funeral. Wasted life……..
“A graduation party at 2am”. I’d have to ask why a high school party was still going on at 2am. I’d also ask where was some security?
Where were the security’s at during this time it should have been several their at the party and Checking every individual from head to toe that enter the building it probably would have not of come to this praying for the families
Praying that all my buds children are ok!
Big city violence has come to small town USA.