Nearly a month after a similar incident in southwest Atlanta, a DeKalb County father of twins was shot just after handing his children over to their mother in a child custody swap. Police believe the mother’s boyfriend was the shooter, and that the mother knew what was going to happen.
The shooting occurred on Sunday outside the father’s apartment building, Whitney Chase apartments in DeKalb County. Kaashif Johnson, the father, and his mother had celebrated the twins’ first birthday this weekend. In an interview with WSB-TV, Johnson’s mother said she was standing outside waving goodbye when shots were fired.
Johnson had put the children in their mother’s PT Cruiser and she had driven away. Immediately afterward, a white SUV came up behind the PT Cruiser and shots rang out. Johnson suffered gunshot wounds to the hand and leg. He was treated at Atlanta Medical Center overnight and released early Monday.
According to police spokesperson Officer Jason Gagnon in an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, police are seeking both the children’s mother and her boyfriend as suspects.
In the unrelated southwest Atlanta case, on May 9 a father and the mother’s new boyfriend got into a gunfight during a child visitation swap. In that case, both men fired guns, with around 15 shots reportedly fired. The children’s father, Antonio Dozier of Woodbury, was killed, and the mother’s new boyfriend was injured.
Related Resources:
- “Dad shot in custody swap; police search for mom and new boyfriend” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 7, 2010)
- “Man killed when gunfight follows custody swap” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 9, 2010)
