The chaos of the deadly shooting at an Atlanta hospital is evident in a portion of the 911 call from inside released by police on Friday.
Deion Patterson, 24, who served in the Coast Guard for five years, was attending an appointment at Northside Medical Midtown to get anxiety medication with his mother on Wednesday morning when he got “enraged” in the lobby and opened fire.
The woman killed was identified as 39-year-old Amy St. Pierre, an employee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with four other women, ages 71, 56, 39 and 26, all of whom were injured.
In the 88 seconds of the 911 call placed by the Atlanta Police Department, you can hear a hospital worker exclaim, “There’s gunfire in the hall!”
“We heard several gunshots,” the caller said. ‘They took cover. We have a few staff and patients in the building.”
The chaos of the deadly shooting at an Atlanta hospital is clear in part of the 911 call from Northside Medical Midtown released by local police on Friday
The caller also asks a doctor if she saw anyone in a nearby elevator after the shooting, which happened just after noon.
The doctor is then asked if they could describe a person, but the doctor replies that he “did for cover.”
St. Pierre, a public health adviser, died after 24-year-old Deion Patterson allegedly opened fire Wednesday at Northside Hospital Medical Midtown, where his mother took him to an appointment.
The CDC confirmed St. Pierre’s death in a statement that read, “The CDC is deeply saddened by the unexpected loss of a colleague who was killed in the Midtown Atlanta shooting today. Our hearts go out to her family, friends and colleagues who remember her and mourn this tragic loss.”
Patterson, whose mug shot has now been released, is said to have shot and killed four other women, aged 25, 39, 56 and 71.
Patterson, 24, (mug photo pictured) was arrested Wednesday night after an hours-long citywide manhunt.
Amy St. Pierre, 39, was killed in Deion Patterson’s shooting spree in Atlanta on Wednesday
Hospital officials confirmed three of the injured underwent surgery – one was shot in the arm, one in the face and a third in the abdomen.
Three of the victims were in critical condition at nearby Grady Memorial Hospital.
Patterson fled the scene on foot and became the subject of an hour-long citywide manhunt.
He was arrested around 8 p.m. “without incident” at a gated community in suburban Cobb County.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens expressed relief that Patterson was taken into custody alive to face criminal charges.
“Right now we have successfully ended a traumatic day,” Dickens said Wednesday night.
“I hope the city, the region, feels reassured that he is in custody, but I also hope that we remain vigilant and continue to look to a future where those who shouldn’t have a gun won’t.” and also that individuals are brought to justice and also that we deal with these things that are mental health or easier access to guns,” he added.
Atlanta Police Deputy Charles Hampton Jr. did not provide details of the investigation or a possible motivation for the shooting.
“Why he did what he did is still under investigation,” he said.
The suspect’s mother, Minyone Patterson, is a nurse and accompanied her son to his doctor’s appointment on Wednesday.
Medical workers are helping evacuate patients after Wednesday’s shooting
Employees at Northside Family Medicine and Urgent Care in Atlanta are transported to the hospital after the shooting
She told the Associated Press that her son, a former Coast Guard, had “a certain mental instability” as a result of medication he received from the Veterans Health Service, which he began taking on Friday.
Minyone said he wanted an Ativan prescription to treat anxiety and depression, but that the VA wouldn’t give it to him, citing its addictive quality.
She claimed her son took the correct dosage of the drug because “he listened to me in every way.”
Crying, she continued: “These families, these families. They hurt because they didn’t want to give my son his damn Ativan. These families lost their loved ones because he had a nervous breakdown because they didn’t want to listen to me.
The Coast Guard has confirmed that Patterson was enlisted with them in 2018 before being retired from active duty in January 2023. It is unclear why he was fired.
Security footage of Deion Patterson released by the Atlanta Police Department
Police officers flock to Northside Hospital in Midtown Atlanta after the shooting
“Our deepest sympathy goes to the victims and their families. The Coast Guard Investigative Service is working closely with the Atlanta Police Department and local authorities on the investigation,” the statement said.
“Mr Patterson joined the Coast Guard in July 2018 and most recently served as a second-class Electrician Mate.”
Patterson has had several collisions with the law, including in 2017 when he was charged with driving under the influence, leaving the scene of an accident and a number of other traffic violations.
He was arrested for marijuana possession in 2015 and subpoenaed again in 2020 for multiple traffic violations.