Atlanta mayor says Wendy's occupied by protesters will be cleared after shootings; 8-year-old girl killed
The mayor says she is done trying to negotiate with protesters after the girl's death
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}After a night of a dozen shootings, including one in which an 8-year-old girl was killed, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms on Sunday said protesters could no longer occupy the Wendy’s where a police officer shot and killed Rayshard Brooks last month.
The girl, identified by police as Secoriea Turner, was killed not far from the scene where Brooks was shot on June 12, Atlanta’s Fox 5 reported, citing police.
Police said Turner was riding in a car with her mother and another adult when a group fired multiple times at the vehicle, hitting the girl.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms vowed that the area around the Wendy's would be cleared of protesters. (Getty Images for City Of Hope, File)
Turner died at a nearby hospital. No suspects have been identified. Police were investigating.
“Now we are demanding action for Secoriea Turner, and all other people who were shot in Atlanta last night,” Bottoms said during a Sunday-night news conference. “Enough is enough. If you want people to take us seriously and you don’t want us to lose this movement, we can’t lose each other.”
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bottoms said the family had been trying to get around barriers outside the Wendy’s just before the shooting, WSB-TV reported. The city reportedly had tried to take down the barriers multiple times in recent weeks.
“At the point that an 8-year-old baby is killed, the discussions have ended,” Bottoms said, in announcing that the city will no longer negotiate with protesters and will clear the area.
Last month, Fox News spoke to three armed men in the vicinity who said they would not let police enter.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“The police aren’t allowed here because they’re not here to protect us,” one man told Fox News’ Steve Harrigan one evening.
Within hours of the mayor’s announcement Sunday, three more people were shot -- including one who died, Fox 5 reported. Police said two people had exchanged gunfire.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Police were offering an award of up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrests and indictments of any of the suspects involved in Turner’s killing.