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 some help, 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…
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