Atlanta mayor calls for ‘enemy within to be destroyed' after 8-year-old shot dead

An eight-year-old girl was fatally shot and killed outside Wendy’s near the same spot where Rayshard Brooks was killed by a police officer on June 12. Secoriea Turner, 8, was shot in the area of University Ave and I-75/85 Saturday night while riding in a vehicle with her mother and an adult friend amidst an exchange of gunfire, where some individuals had illegally placed barricades and someone shot at the car.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms in a condemning speech said, “You shot and killed a baby”. She harshly rebuked the armed protestors who have taken over the place after Brooks was shot. "And there wasn’t just one shooter, there were at least two shooters," she added. Bottoms demanded that the people who have been seen carrying long guns near the University Avenue restaurant leave the area.

"Last night, I received a notice the barriers were back up about 45 minutes before I got the message that Secoriea was killed," Bottoms said, requesting the listeners to turn in the person who shot the girl. Bottoms also said that the fight was also against the "the enemy within"

Police are seeking the public’s help in finding the suspects in the case. They are offering a $10,000 reward for any information leading to Secoriea's killers.

Ever since George Floyd, an African-American was killed in police custody on May 25, protests have been taking place all over the nation. Some protestors have also defiled or toppled statues of pro-slavery leaders and politicians. Protests at several places have also turned violent with people looting shops, protesters being injured at hands of the police or protestors turning violent on far-right white Americans.