Police are searching for a gunman who shot five people today (May 3) at Northside Hospital in Midtown Atlanta, killing one person and injuring four, according to the Atlanta Police Department.
Police identified the suspect as 24-year-old Deion Patterson. “DO NOT approach him,” a tweet from the police department read. “He is considered armed and dangerous.”
According to CNN, a high-level source within the Atlanta Police Department told the media outlet that Patterson had accompanied his mother to the medical facility this morning. At some point the man “became agitated and started shooting using a handgun.” Apparently the suspect has a military background. His mother, who was not injured, is currently assisting police in the manhunt, according to the source.
The four injured victims are in critical condition as they undergo surgery at Downtown’s Grady Memorial Hospital, which is Atlanta’s only Level 1 trauma center. Dr. Robert Jansen, chief medical officer at Grady Health System, told reporters in a news conference that all four victims are adults.