GSU president vows security improvements after latest deadly shooting near campus

ATLANTA — The president of Georgia State University says he’s planning more security measures after a 21-year-old man was shot to death near campus.

It happened just after 12:30 p.m. Sunday near the RaceTrac gas station on Piedmont Ave.

When police arrived, they found a man with multiple gunshot wounds who was not breathing.

In a statement posted online, GSU President Brian Blake said a fight between two groups “quickly escalated into gunfire.”

“None of the parties involved have been identified as GSU students or staff,” he wrote. “The off-duty police officer added earlier this year inside the RaceTrac was on the scene and responded immediately.”

The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the victim as Javare Shakir-Fulford. He died at the scene, police said. Investigators have not identified any suspects or a motive.

Blake said he spoke with officials from the RaceTrac gas station and with Atlanta and campus police about the shooting. He vowed to make security improvements on campus.

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“We have made recent enhancements that added more officer monitoring and cameras, reoriented our building entrances and provided staff training, and we will assess this incident to make more impactful changes,” Blake wrote.

Students are frustrated with the violence near GSU. Just last month, bullets hit the windows of a GSU dorm.

In December, two people were shot on campus at one of the administrative buildings. One man was killed.

In October, at the RaceTrac next door to campus, four people were shot, including two students. An innocent bystander was killed.

“There’s a lot of stuff that can be done to reduce crime in the city in general, but it’s shocking to see it happen feet away from the campus,” said student Preston Paris.

Zayvian Sheppard, the GSU student body president, said he would like to see Atlanta police and city officials do more to bolster security around the campus.

“We’re doing everything we can on an administrative level,” Sheppard said. “But myself, and other students don’t really feel like we’re being supported by the city. I just think there needs to be honest and open conversation about what can we do as a university and what can the city do to help us moving forward.”

Several months ago, Georgia State announced it would revamp its security systems, making a $3 million investment to add more cameras, lights and call boxes on campus.

But students say they’re not sure what it will take to prevent the gunfire.

“I feel scared because also knowing it happened in broad daylight on a random day,” student Emily Paredes said. “You never know, it could be me. It could be somebody I know.”

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