A 13-year-old boy is recovering after being shot four times while sleeping in his family’s apartment at the Capitol Vanira complex in southeast Atlanta on Sunday. Detectives say the apartment was targeted and more than 100 shots were fired into the unit. It’s a scenario no parent wants to imagine, and for his mother, Shantavia Battle, it’s not the first time.
About a year ago, the same boy was wounded in a drive-by shooting at the same complex. He was 12 then, and three other boys were hurt. After that shooting, a police mobile surveillance unit was placed at Capitol Vanira, but Battle says the complex still has no security. “This can’t keep happening,” she told reporters, adding, “We don’t have security. We don’t have anybody.”
Police have not named a suspect or released a motive, and haven’t said whether patrols will increase. The case raises hard questions about tenant safety and who is responsible for protecting families in residential communities, here on the Suncoast and across the country. What would you want your apartment complex to do after a shooting like this? Let us know on our social pages.
