An eight-hour intense police search on Wednesday, May 3, for a shooting suspect that put the city of Atlanta on edge ended with police taking the suspect into custody but still left unanswered questions.
Now the mother of the shooting suspect is speaking out to give details on what led to her son killing one person and injuring four more people in a Midtown Atlanta medical facility.
Minyone Patterson, the mother of shooting suspect Deion Patterson, issued an apology to the victims and advocated for her son’s mental health issues. She also urged other people to take mental health more seriously and listen to those suffering when they say they need help.
“First and foremost, I want to give my sincere, sincere apology to the families that were injured and killed,” Minyone Patterson said in a statement to WANF.
Deion Patterson, who served in the Coast Guard from 2018 until he was discharged in January had an appointment at Northside Medical Midtown facility on Wednesday, according to his mother. He was reportedly in need of anxiety medicine and had issues scheduling an appointment with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Patterson reportedly opened fire at Northside after medical staff there refused to provide care because he and his mother arrived late for the appointment, according to sources close to the investigation. His mother told police that medication had put her son in a zombie-like state, and she was trying to get him a new prescription, but the next available date at a VA facility was several months away.
Minyone Patterson said her son “was always a protector” and “no one that would hurt anybody,” but she believes he wasn’t in his right frame of mind.
“This mental illness is real, and when we say it’s real, from the medical standpoint, it is real,” Minyone Patterson said. “And when someone is saying they need help, or you see that they are acting out of sorts, they need help, help them, just don’t disregard them.”
The 24-year-old killed Amy St. Pierre, 38, and injured four others during the violent attack. Afterward, he reportedly escaped to a nearby Shell gas station and stole a pickup truck. Patterson then made his way to the Cobb County area just outside of Atlanta and abandoned the stolen vehicle.
According to CNN, police relied on camera technology systems and information from Patterson’s family to blanket the zone. A tip spurred an undercover officer into a foot chase with Patterson that ended in a nearby gated apartment complex in the area on Wednesday night, according to Cobb County police chief Stuart VanHoozer.
Patterson faces one count of murder and four counts of aggravated assault and is being held at the Fulton County Jail. He was scheduled to appear in court on Thursday morning but waived the first court appearance, according to The Associated Press.
St. Pierre, the victim killed in the attack, worked for the Atlanta-based U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the agency confirmed to CNN.
“Our hearts are with her family, friends, and colleagues as they remember her and grieve this tragic loss,” agency spokesperson Benjamin Haynes said to CNN.
“This kind of thing is happening every day. Some day it will touch you in some way,” said Neal Cohen, a longtime friend of the slain victim, to CNN. “Tragically, today it directly touched my life. And I am still attempting to process the loss of my friend Amy.”
The surviving victims, whose ages range from 25 to 71, were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital and were recovering in ICU as of Wednesday evening.
The hospital said that three of the women arrived in critical condition and had to have immediate surgery.
The fourth surviving victim was reportedly in stable condition and would most likely not need surgery, said Grady Health System chief medical officer Dr. Robert Jansen in a news conference.
One of the critical patients needed surgery for a gunshot wound to the abdomen and another needed surgery for a wound to the arm, according to a hospital representative. The third victim suffered a gunshot wound to the face and required an interventional radiology procedure used to stop bleeding by inserting catheters directly into blood vessels.
