Atlanta shooting: Suspect Raïssa Kengne appears in court as police release chilling 911 calls
Tributes meanwhile paid to victims at condo where attack took place
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The woman accused of shooting three people and sending offices into lockdown in midtown Atlanta on Monday has been denied bail.
Raïssa Kengne, 34, appeared before a court in Tuesday afternoon accused of assaulting three people with a firearm and killing two of them, and was ordered to remain in detention.
The first attack took place at Ms Kengne’s luxury condo complex, with a second bout of gunfire erupting minutes later at an office building four blocks away.
Michael Shinners, 60, a building manager in Ms Kengne’s luxury condo complex, died at the scene, while Wesley Freeman, 41, who seems to have been a former colleague of Ms Kengne, died later in hospital.
While police are still probing the motive of the shooting, Ms Kengne appears to have made a series of LinkedIn posts and filed a lawsuit accusing Mr Freeman and her building managers of conspiring against her.
Officers said they believed the victims had been targeted specifically.
Claims of burglary and retaliation
The accusations in Raïssa Kengne's lawsuit are a little hard to follow, but in essence she alleged that her former employer, BDO, retaliated against her for raising concerns about deficiencies in its audits.
According to 11 Alive, her lawsuit says the company ignored her and eventually offered her a 12 per cent salary raise, which she interpreted as an attempt to buy her off.
After that, Ms Kengne alleged, BDO began conspiring with a wide range of other figures including her condo building manager and her former lawyers to retaliate against her.
For example, she claimed that someone used a copy of her condo key to break into her home and steal evidence from her safe, leading her to suspect that Beacon Management Services, her building manager, was involved.
But judging by videos posted on her LinkedIn page, Atlanta police did not take her report seriously. The city's police department told 11 Alive that it had classified Ms Kengne's case as a non-crime.
The Independent has asked BDO and Beacon for comment.
Taxi driver: 'I didn't have any idea'
The taxi driver who drove Raïssa Kengne to Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport says he had no idea that his passenger was a suspect.
Giles Patrick Mandio, a Checker Cab driver who emigrated to the US from Cameroon, told Fox 5 that he had driven past numerous emergency services vehicles to pick up his fare.
Mr Mandio said: "I didn’t have any idea. I’ve picked her up before. It’s not some random person that I picked up for the first time."
Mr Mandio said that Ms Kengne had also originally come from Cameroon, and that she initially asked him to take her to a park in Atlanta's Ansley Park neighbourhood.
She got out, rang the doorbell, got no response, then got back in and, after some discussion, agreed to be taken to the airport.
As they were on their way, Mr Mandio got a phone call from the dispatch centre asking about Ms Kengne. "Do you have any problems with anyone?" he asked her. "Not that I know of, no," she said. "What's happening?"
Mr Mandio says she then told him: "No, you're safe, don't worry, you're safe."
Atlanta Police release incident report
An incident report released by the Atlanta Police Department sheds light on how the Atlanta shooting suspect was caught.
The report, accessible here, says officers raced to the condo complex at 1280 West Peachtree Street only to find building manager Michael Shinner already dead from "multiple gunshot wounds to his torso". It says Michael Horne was taken to hospital in "stable" condition.
While officers investigated, another team responded to reports of more gunfire at the 1100 Peachtree Street skyscraper and found Wesley Freeman shot multiple times in a similar fashion.
The report doesn't say how police determined the suspect's identity, only saying they did so "quickly". An investigator contacted the taxi company, which then tracked her cab to the airport – possibly using a GPS tracker in the car.
'It's one person shooting at everybody she can see'
Recordings of 911 calls released by Atlanta police lay bare the panic and fear of witnesses during Monday's shooting spree.
In one call, made from the luxury condo complex where the first attack happened, a woman is audibly scared and frantic as she tells the dispatcher that two people have been shot.
"She lives here," says the woman of the shooter. Towards the end of the call, she appears to hyperventilate.
Another caller at the same building tells the dispatcher that a "lady with a black striped top, a Black lady" is currently in the management office shooting at people. He says he heard about four or five shots.
Asked if he feels safe to keep talking, the man says: "Yeah, well, I'm scared to death." He adds: "I'm hiding right this minute.... it's just one person shooting at everybody she can see. She must have had a problem with the management office."
'Come on, buddy, keep fighting'
Recordings of 911 calls reveal how colleagues of Wesley Freeman attempted to save his life while waiting for medics to reach the scene.
In one audio clip released by Atlanta police on Tuesday night, a dispatcher can be heard coaching the caller through using a clean cloth to stop the bleeding.
"This just happened," says the caller. "We were inside the office, having a meeting. We heard three loud shots. And everyone was wondering what was going on."
Mr Freeman then stops breathing, leading the dispatcher to guide his colleagues through chest compressions, counting to mark the rhythm.
"Come on, keep fighting, baby," someone can be heard in the background. "Come on, buddy... come on, keep fighting, keep breathing, get a breath in there. Come on, now."
Another clip from the same building records the caller whispering so they won't be heard, telling the dispatcher that they're "terrified" and locked in their office.
Kengne described as ‘disgruntled resident’ by executive who managed Atlanta condo
President of Beacon Management Services Lisa Simmons, whose company managed 1280 West in Atlanta where the deadly shooting unfolded on Monday, confirmed to local news that the surviving victim of the attack is Chief Building Engineer Mike Horne.
Mr Horne, she told WSBTV, remains in critical condition at a hospital.
Ms Simmons described suspected shooter Raïssa Kengne as a “disgruntled resident of the building.”
GoFundMe organised for victims and witnesses of condo shooting
An online fundraiser has been organised for the victims and the residents who witnessed the deadly shooting that unfolded at an Atlanta condo on Monday, which left two dead and one in hospital in critical condition.
“We are planning on putting the funds towards the funeral cost of our building manager Michael Shinners, the medical bills of our building engineer Mike Horne, and a small portion to do something for the staff here who had to witness this event and helped keep all the residents safe yesterday,” wrote McKenzie Lovelace on Facebook while sharing a link for the online fundraiser.
The goal for the GoFundMe was set at $10,000, and by early on Wednesday morning it had collected more than $2,000.
Vigil held to commemorate victims killed, injured in Atlanta condo shooting
Residents of 1280 West gathered pool side on Tuesday night to commemorate the members of their small community who were killed and injured during Monday’s brazen shooting.
“The complex had a Vigil for Michael Shinners today pool side,” wrote Alyce Davis on Facebook on Tuesday night, who identified herself online as being a resident of the Atlanta condo that went into lockdown on Monday night after suspected shooter Raïssa Kengne, 34, opened fire.
“Mike on the right is still in Intensive Care,” Ms Davis wrote, while sharing a series of pictures and video footage from the vigil and a pair of pictures that showed Shinners, who was one of the two victims killed in the attack, and the building’s chief engineer, Mike Horne, who remains in hospital.
Community Associations Institute releases statement on Atlanta shooting victim
The Community Associations Institute, an international trade association that provides “education and resources to the volunteer homeowners who govern community associations”, released a statement regarding the death of one of their members, Michael Shinners, who was killed during Monday’s shooting.
Shinners, who was a member of CAI and a property manager at 1280 West in Atlanta, was remembered by the organisation as being a “dedicated” member of the CAI community.
“As we learn more information about the deadly shooting on Aug. 22 at a condominium community on West Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Community Associations Institute, the CAI Georgia Chapter, and the entire CAI family express our deepest condolences to the victims’ families, friends, colleagues, and neighbors,” the statement began.
“We are saddened and shocked as we mourn the loss of our friend, colleague, and dedicated member of the CAI Georgia Chapter. Michael Patrick Shinners, a community association manager with Beacon Management Services in Atlanta, was fatally wounded during the horrifying tragedy at the 1280 West condominium.”
“Mr. Shinners, a longtime CAI member, was passionate about his profession and the chapter. He earned several industry designations from CAI, including the Association Management Specialist (AMS) designation and the Professional Community Association Manager (PCAM) designation, the pinnacle achievement for community association managers that demonstrates the highest level of commitment to the profession. He also earned his Certified Manager of Community Associations (CMCA) credential, administered by the Community Association Managers International Certification Board (CAMICB),” the statement, written by Thomas Skiba, CAI’s Chief Executive Officer, Jessica Towles, President, CAI Board of Trustees, and Kelley Moon, President of CAI Georgia Chapter.