Atlanta shooting – live: Suspect Raïssa Kengne appears in court as police release chilling 911 calls

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.

Key Points

• All we know about suspect Raïssa Kengne and three victims

• Three shot in midtown Atlanta

• Woman suspected of triple shooting in custody

• What we know so far - Atlanta shooting

'It's one person shooting at everybody she can see'

09:51 , Io Dodds

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."

Atlanta Police release incident report

08:57 , Io Dodds

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.

Taxi driver: 'I didn't have any idea'

07:40 , Io Dodds

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."

Claims of burglary and retaliation

06:24 , Lauren Io Dodds

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.

'Not enough evidence'

05:17 , Io Dodds

Raïssa Kengne's lawsuit was in trouble. According to her complaint, she attempted to engage a law firm, but was rebuffed after "several months" and "many questions" because "they did not have enough evidence to pursue the case".

She searched Georgia for other lawyers, and even flew to Washington, DC to meet with others (her tickets are included in her lawsuit as evidence), to no avail.

Instead she represented herself, and named her previous lawyers as defendants in the suit.

Suspect was reportedly fighting foreclosure

04:10 , Io Dodds

Atlanta broadcaster 11 Alive has done a deep dive into Raïssa Kengne's 407-page lawsuit, as well as other legal filings relating to her life.

Although a judge on Tuesday told Ms Kengne that she does not qualify for a taxpayer-funded lawyer, she reportedly told a different court that she has less than $3,000 in savings and no income.

The report says Ms Kengne owns land, an abandoned house, and her condo in midtown Atlanta, but that she has been fighting to prevent the house being foreclosed upon and to get electricity turned back on at the condo.

No court date set for Kengne’s next appearance

03:02 , Io Dodds

A court date has not yet been set for Raïssa Kengne’s next appearance before a judge, Fox 5 Atlanta reported on Tuesday.

The woman accused of killing two people and injuring one in a shooting spree in midtown Atlanta on Tuesday appeared briefly before a magistrate to hear the warrant against her and be denied bail.

‘Wes will be deeply missed'

01:55 , Io Dodds

The accounting company where shooting victim Wesley Freeman worked has sent a bulletin to employees mourning his loss.

According to a screenshot posted by an employee on the anonymous social network Fishbowl, the message – first spotted by the accounting news website Going Concern – was signed by BDO USA chief executive Wayne Berson and HR boss Cathy Moy.

"As you may have seen in the news, there was an active shooter incident in midtown Atlanta, which included our BDO office," they said. "We're heartbroken to share that one of our employees, Wesley (Wes) Freeman, lost his life yesterday as a result of this incident.

"This is devastating and something we never could have imagined we would face as a firm... Wes, an IS assurance managing director, was an incredible team member who brought exceptional passion,dedication, and integrity to his work over the past 16 years at BDO. He will be deeply missed."

It adds that the Atlanta office will be closed "until further notice".

The message does not say anything about the shooting suspect Raïssa Kengne, who appears to have previously worked for BDO and had named Mr Freeman as a defendant in a sprawling lawsuit in May.

So far, BDO has not responded to requests for comment from The Independent.

Suspect's LinkedIn page flooded with comments

Wednesday 24 August 2022 00:48 , Io Dodds

Raïssa Kengne's LinkedIn page has been flooded by online rubberneckers speculating about her alleged role in the shooting and sometimes voicing support for her.

Underneath a video by Ms Kengne about her dispute with her former employer and her building manager, posted two days ago, there are now 286 comments from apparent strangers.

Some people take her claims of a conspiracy against her seriously, suggesting dark forces at work behind the events in Atlanta and expressing support for her perspective.

Others sympathised with her claims that Atlanta police did not give her dispute due attention while lamenting the deaths. Others still argued that she was mentally ill, using words such as "paranoid" and "delusional", while many more simply discussed her arrest with amazement and surprise.

To be clear, Ms Kengne is innocent of Monday's shooting until proven guilty and we don't know anything concrete about her mental state.

One unfortunate professional connection, who describes himself as a senior auditor on KPMG, posted around three weeks ago that "I knew from the first moment I met you that you were a BADASS. Go, Raissa!"

Since then, numerous strangers have responded pointing out that she has been arrested.

Suspect had long career as an IT auditor

Tuesday 23 August 2022 23:35 , Io Dodds

Now that authorities have confirmed the suspect as Raïssa Kengne, let's take a closer look at how she described herself on LinkedIn.

By all appearances, Ms Kengne has had a successful career. She graduated in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in accounting and finance from Georgia State University's J Mack Robinson College of Business, where she says she was the treasurer of the Delta Epsilon Iota fraternity, then got a master's degree in IT systems auditing from the same institution in 2013.

Since then, she has worked at various companies as an IT auditor, assessing clients' safeguards against cyberattacks and the risks of system failure.

She received endorsements on the social network for her skills in "auditing", "financial analysis", "financial reporting", and others. One manager from one of her internships back in 2011 described he as "a valuable asset to our accounting team... her output was on par with the professionals on our staff."

According to a post three weeks ago, Ms Kengne also gave a conference talk in Atlanta entitled “Fraud in Public Accounting”.

ICYMI: Two victims killed in attack identified

Tuesday 23 August 2022 22:43 , Gino Spocchia

Michael Shinners, 60, and Wesley Freeman, 41, were identified by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office on Monday as the two victims killed in the shooting that afternoon, according to local news outlets.

Shinners was one of two people shot at an apartment on 1280 West Peachtree Street, whilst Freeman was shot at a different building less than a mile away, on 1100 Peachtree Street, Atlanta police said.

The first shooting took place in the management office at the condo building run by Beacon Management Services, where Shinners and the third victim, Mike Horne, were employees, according to CBS46 .

Here’s what we know about them:

Two victims killed in Atlanta shooting ID’d after female suspect arrested at airport

‘Please remain silent, ma’am'

Tuesday 23 August 2022 22:01 , Io Dodds

Here’s a video clip from Raïssa Kengne’s first appearance in court, showing her testy exchange with the judge.

Raïssa Kengne appears in court

Tuesday 23 August 2022 21:23 , Io Dodds

Raïssa Kengne has been denied bail in her first appearance before a court in Atlanta.

Sitting before a video screen in a government building, wearing a face mask, Ms Kengne listened as the warrant against her was read out, accusing her of assaulting Michael Shinners, Wesley Freeman, and Michael Horne with a firearm.

Ms Kengne repeatedly attempted to speak up and intervene in the proceedings but was told by the judge to be quiet. "Your honour, if I may intervene – " she said at one point. "Please remain silent, ma'am," the judge responded.

The judge then told Ms Kengne that she had enough assets or income that she did not qualify for a taxpayer-funded defence lawyer under Georgia law, and that she must immediately hire her own lawyer without "delay or stall[ing]".

Ms Kengne attempted to protest, saying she had not had a chance to talk with her current lawyer about the facts of the case", but was told that would be sorted out at a later date.

The judge ordered that she remain in detention.

Appeal reportedly filed by suspect in lawsuit

Tuesday 23 August 2022 20:45 , Gino Spocchia

In a lawsuit alleging a conspiracy against her, Raïssa Kengne accused two of her victims and her former employer of “retaliation, persecution, harassment, intimidation, threats, burglary, computer hacking, phone spoofng, and other attacks”, according to a version seen by The Independent.

The case, which a judge reportedly dismissed, came after she allegedly highlighted a “significant deficiency” in an audit at her former accounting firm that was disregarded, WSB-TV reported.

She then accused her condo management company of allowing “unauthorised individuals” to enter her apartment in connection with the claims and lawsuit and according to WSB-TV, filed an appeal against the judge’s decision as recently as last week.

Lisa Simmons, the president of Beacon Management Services, told local news media on Tuesday that Ms Kengne was a “disgruntled” resident.

Condition of third victim remain unknown

Tuesday 23 August 2022 19:48 , Gino Spocchia

Lisa Simmons, the president of Beacon Management Services, told WSB-TV that her company employed both Michael Shinners, who died at the scene of the shooing, and Mike Horne, who remains in hospial.

She confirmed Mr Horne was a chief building engineer and that his current condition is unknown.

CBS46 reported earlier that he required surgery as a result of his injuries and was in an ICU unit, although details are scarce.

Suspect due in court

Tuesday 23 August 2022 19:08 , Gino Spocchia

The suspect in Monday’s shooting in Midtown, Atlanta, is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday at 4pm local time, according to WSB-TV.

Police are yet to publicly name Raïssa Kengne as the woman taken into custody after shooting three people in a spree across Midtown, causing two deaths.

It will be her first appearance in court, with CBS46 reporting that she faces murder and aggravated assault charges.

Authorities release image of suspect

Tuesday 23 August 2022 18:28 , Gino Spocchia

The suspect from Monday’s shooting in Atlanta has appeared in an image obtained by WSB-TV, who said on Tuesday that an official working for the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Raïssa Kengne was arrested by an ATF officer at Atlanta’s international airport on Monda before Atlanta police arrived at the scene, the report added.

ICYMI: Everything we know

Tuesday 23 August 2022 17:48 , Gino Spocchia

With an investigation into Monday’s shooting in Midtown Atlanta still ongoing, here’s everything we know so far about what happened, who the suspect was, and why the victims might have been targeted:

Atlanta shooting: Everything we know so far about suspect Raïssa Kengne

Suspect was ‘disgruntled resident’, condo company says

Tuesday 23 August 2022 16:48 , Gino Spocchia

The suspect in Monday’s Atlanta shooting was a resident of the same condo building where two employees were shot, killing one and wounding another.

Lisa Simmons, the president of the company managing 1280 West Peachtree Street, told WSB-TV that Raïssa Kengne was a “disgruntled resident of the building,” the news outlet reported on Tuesday.

Social media accounts from witnesses as well as local news media had suggested that she lived at the building and had targeted condo manager Michael Shinners and chief building engineering Mike Horne, who both worked for Beacon Management Services

Tributes paid to condo building manager

Tuesday 23 August 2022 15:48 , Gino Spocchia

Friends and residents of the apartment building where 60-year-old Michael Shinners was killed have since paid tribute.

“Micheal Shinners was an above and beyond building manager. He was loved by our community. The events today are shocking and he can never be replaced. We are deeply saddened,” said resident Brian Hall to CBS46.

“He always had a smile on his face, and had a gift to also make others smile with his awesome sense of humour,” a former colleague, Jennifer Cheek, added on Facebook. “He was so kind and light hearted.”

Another resident of 1280 West Peachtree Street, David Lowery, added: “I don’t know these folks names but anyone who parks a car here or walks their dog sees them on a regular basis, certainly I know their faces. What a tragedy.”

Reports suggest Shinners was shot along with a colleague, engineer Mike Horne, who remains in hospital. The suspect was thought to have targeted the pair, police said.

Third victim named, remains hospitalised

Tuesday 23 August 2022 14:48 , Gino Spocchia

The third shooting victim has reportedly been identified by his employer, Beacon Management Services, as Mike Horne, CBS46 reports.

Mr Horne is an engineer working at the apartment block where the first shooting took place on Monday morning at 1280 West Peachtree Street, his LinkedIn profile suggests.

He is thought to remain in an ICU and required surgery after being shot alongside Michael Shinners, who died at the scene.

Medical examiner names victims, report says

Tuesday 23 August 2022 13:42 , Gino Spocchia

Michael Shinners, 60 and Wesley Freeman, 41, have been identified by the medical examiner for Fulton County as the two victims killed in the shooting earlier that morning, according to 11Alive.

Police are yet to name the pair as those killed by the suspect, while a third person remains in hospital in an unconfirmed condition.

Shinners was one of two people shot at an apartment on 1280 West Peachtree St, Atlanta police said. Freeman was shot at a different building more than a mile away, on 1100 Peachtree Street.

Here’s what we know:

Two victims killed in Atlanta shooting identified

Mother describes how her daughter was shot at

Tuesday 23 August 2022 10:58 , Io Dodds

The mother of a woman who was caught up in the shooting has spoken about her experience.

Tamesha Steed, whose daughter was working at the 1280 West apartment complex when the shooting began, told 11 Alive that her daughter was "pretty shook up".

"My daughter was shot at, but she's okay," said Ms Steed. "She is actually an employee here.... she did say the shooter had some medical conditions, so I don't know if this was something mental."

She added: "What they're saying is that the shooter was targeting employees of the building.... when I called to talk to my daughter, she was screaming through the phone, she was so shook."

She described the complex as "an upscale condo building", where her daughter had worked for about 6-8 months.

ICYMI: Suspect had filed lawsuit against two victims

Tuesday 23 August 2022 09:44 , Io Dodds

Two of the Atlanta shooting victims were named in a lawsuit apparently filed by suspect Raïssa Kengne this May.

In a 407-page complaint spotted by Kevin D Reyes, an open source intelligence analyst at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, and reviewed by The Independent, Raissa Djuissi Kengne accuses her former company, former colleagues, former clients, her building manager, one of her neighbours, and her own lawyers of engaging in a conspiracy against her.

"This case concerns the retaliation, persecution, harassment, intimidation, threats, burglary, computer hacking, phone spoofng, and other attacks the Plaintiff was subjected to upon reporting to the relevant authorities a violation of [various finance laws]," the complaint reads.

In the version seen by The Independent, only Ms Kengne's neighbour Justin Mungal had yet responded in detail to the lawsuit, calling her complaint a "shotgun pleading" and denying her claims.

Atlanta shooting: All we know about suspect Raïssa Kengne and three victims

Tuesday 23 August 2022 09:19 , Arpan Rai

The Atlanta police department did not name the suspect in the Midtown shooting incident on Monday and only said she was female. The department also released blurry CCTV photos of her.

However, according to CBS 46, an email sent out to employees of Atlanta’s metro rail system, MARTA, named the suspect as Raissa Kengne.

The photos released by the police force, and another posted on Twitter by radio host Brian Moote, showed a Black woman wearing glasses and a black and white striped shirt surrounded by law enforcement officers.

A source within the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) confirmed that name to WSB Channel 2, saying Ms Kengne had been arrested by ATF officers with a 9mm Glock pistol in her purse.

Read the full story here:

Atlanta shooting: Everything we know so far about suspect Raïssa Kengne

Workers describe midtown lockdowns

Tuesday 23 August 2022 08:37 , Io Dodds

Office workers whose buildings went on lockdown during the shooting have described the situation to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Jaylen Green said that when his building's active shooter alarm went off, he feared the shooter might actually be inside his workplace.

”We didn’t understand that what was happening outside was different from what was happening in the building. We assumed there was an active shooter in our building," he said.

Another nearby worker, Tori Alexas, said her building was kept under lockdown for two hours.

"Around 2 o’clock the sirens started going off and then they slowly started blocking off the road," she said. "I don’t want to have this fear of leaving work and having to look out for a shooter now."

Probing if victims were shot randomly - Atlanta police

Tuesday 23 August 2022 08:10 , Arpan Rai

Atlanta police said they are actively investigating the circumstances surrounding the shootings reported on Monday.

The officials said that “it is unclear what led to the shootings”.

We are investigating the connection between the locations, the police department said in a statement.

They added: “We are working to determine whether the victims were targeted by the suspect or whether any of the victims were shot randomly.”

Reason behind Midtown shooting, targeting victims unclear - Atlanta police

Tuesday 23 August 2022 07:09 , Arpan Rai

Atlanta police officials have said that the reason behind Monday’s shooting incident is not immediately clear, and they do not know what prompted the attack or whether the victims were targeted.

However, the police confirmed that they were able to locate the suspected shooter at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport, just hours after the incident, with the help of an “extensive camera network”.

ATF also names suspect as Raissa Kengne

Tuesday 23 August 2022 06:23 , Io Dodds

A source inside the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (known as the ATF) has confirmed the suspect's identity as Raissa Kengne, according to WSBTV Channel 2.

The source said Ms Kengne was arrested by ATF agents the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport with a 9mm Glock pistol in her purse after a taxi company told officers it had ferried her there.

The ATF was among numerous local and federal law enforcement agencies given thanks by Atlanta's police department on Monday.

Victim's mother in law speaks out

Tuesday 23 August 2022 06:15 , Io Dodds

A woman has spoken out claiming to the mother in law of shooting victim Wesley Freeman.

"Please pray for my family," said Janice Gardner on Facebook on Monday. "My daughter’s husband Wes was one of the victims in the shooting today. He passed away a couple of hours ago. Thanks for your prayers."

Pictured: Female suspect seized in Atlanta airport as two dead in shooting

Tuesday 23 August 2022 05:06 , Arpan Rai

The Atlanta police department arrested a female suspect who allegedly shot dead two victims and wounded one other in the city on Monday, according to officials.

The suspected woman was held by police officers at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and “taken into custody without incident.”

Visuals from the airport showed the suspected woman in handcuffs at the airport. Witnesses present at the time of police taking the women into custody said that the events leading to the arrest were lowkey and did not peril the safety of those present at the airport.

“***SUSPECT IN CUSTODY***” the department tweeted shortly after that.

APD says that the city’s “extensive camera network” helped them locate the suspect, who has not been named, at the airport.

The arrest came after APD had released surveillance video images of the female they say shot the three people at Colony Square in Midtown on Monday.

Read the full report on the Midtown shooting here:

Female suspect seized in Atlanta airport as two dead in shooting

Residents say the shooter targeted building managers

Tuesday 23 August 2022 03:59 , Io Dodds

The first shooting was a targeted attack on management staff at the apartment building where the suspect lived, according to CBS 46.

Residents at the scene of the first shooting told reporter Patrick Quinn that the suspect lived in their building.

They said that the shooter targeted apartment management staff on the plaza level of the complex.

Video shows police entering buildings near shooting

Tuesday 23 August 2022 02:51 , Io Dodds

Witness videos given to Atlanta news broadcaster 11 Alive show police officers responding to the shooting on Monday.

The clips show officers in body armour carrying rifles walking into businesses near Colony Square and a building lobby near Juniper St and 14th St.

Victims named as Wesley Freeman and Michael Shinners

Tuesday 23 August 2022 01:47 , Io Dodds

The shooting victims have been named as Wesley Freeman, 41, and Michael Shinners, 60, according to local media reports.

CBS 46 anchor Shon Gables broke the news on Twitter, citing the Fulton County medical examiner.

Notably, both Mr Freeman and Mr Shinners were named as defendants in the lawsuit filed by Raïssa Kengne earlier this year, claiming that they were involved in a conspiracy against her.

Mr Freeman's own LinkedIn page describes him as an information security auditor who has worked at Ms Kengne's former employer for nearly 17 years.

Mr Shinners, meanwhile, is identified in Ms Kengne's lawsuit as the general manager of her apartment complex at 1280 West Peachtree St.