The victim of an alleged attempted robbery inside Buckhead’s Lenox Square mall Oct. 16 fired a gun at his attackers, then was arrested himself on a warrant and other charges, according to the Atlanta Police Department. Two robbery suspects also were arrested.
According to APD, the incident happened around 4:45 p.m. within the Neiman Marcus department store in the mall at 3393 Peachtree Road. Treonta Deon Williams, 30, told officers that, as he was checking out at a cash register, four males attacked him and attempted to steal his bag. Williams drew a firearm and fired shots at the suspects, who fled. No one appeared to be injured by the gunfire, but the store “did sustain some property damage,” according to APD.
APD arrested two suspects and charged them with robbery: Jamell Gaskin-McLaughlin, 17, and Delon Maurice Robinson, 19. According to APD, officers also discovered that Williams was wanted on a warrant and also charged him with reckless conduct and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. All three were taken to the Fulton County Jail.
Lenox Square was the scene of several shootings in the past 10 months, a trend that finally ceased with the pandemic shutdown. In March, a man was shot to death in the parking lot over what APD said may have been a dispute over a space. Three other people were wounded in shootings at the mall in the previous three months: a woman shot during a parking-garage robbery attempt in December 2019; a man shot by an APD officer in a parking garage in January during a possible attempt to retrieve a stolen item; and a man shot in the parking lot in February in a mysterious incident where two suspects appeared to take a suitcase from a car the victim had occupied.
While the shootings at Lenox Square halted temporarily, other gun violence has continued across Buckhead this year, including two killings. The wave of shootings has neighborhood activists and authorities considering such tactics as a private security patrol, a crackdown on nighttime gathering spots, a special court to handle gun cases, and a gun buy-back program.
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