ATLANTA — A 12-year-old boy was found shot and killed Wednesday in southwest Atlanta, police confirm.
On Thursday the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office identified the boy as David Mack.
A spokesperson for the Atlanta Police Department said they responded around 1:48 p.m. on Wednesday and located the boy "unresponsive with apparent gunshot wounds" behind a home in a creek bed off Shirley Street SW in the Cascade Road neighborhood.
APD Maj. D'Andrea Price said the boy was reported missing at 8:45 p.m. Tuesday night. Family members told police he was last seen around 3 p.m. when he told his grandmother he was going to visit some friends.
Family went out canvasing the area Wednesday and located the boy deceased in the woods near their home, police said. Price said they looked in the area where he and other children played and traveled in and that's where they found his body. Police said there is a trail near the creek.
"He was not alert, not conscious or breathing and was confirmed deceased by Grady EMS," APD Officer Anthony Grant said when officers arrived.
11Alive SkyTracker showed investigators focusing on a wooded area behind a home on Shirley St.
Kristienne Legette, who lives near the home, told 11Alive that she heard two rounds of multiple gunshots from that area Tuesday evening. She said that she kept her children safe and inside the home, looked out the window and didn't see anything.
APD said they are getting conflicting reports of when gunshots were heard in the area. They said they will go back and check for any reports of "calls for shots heard" in the area, and they expect that the Fulton County medical examiner's autopsy would establish an approximate time of death.
Police said they have multiple leads that they will continue to follow and are actively investigating.
"We don't want anybody to die. Especially by gun violence," Maj. Price said of the 12-year-old's death. "When young people are gunned down in our city, we take that very seriously."
Anybody with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 404-577-8477. Tipsters can remain anonymous.