Eleven people in their late teens were shot around midnight Sunday at Carolyn Crayton Park in Macon, according to the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities said the victims were four 18-year-old men, two 18-year-old women and five 17-year-old boys.
Two victims, an 18-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy, were in critical condition, and the other nine were in stable condition, the sheriff’s office said. Bibb County Sheriff David Davis said all 11 victims were part of a birthday party gathering that had moved to the park.
Davis said he “can’t remember the last time we’ve had this many people shot at one time.” The FBI is assisting because of the number of people involved, but Davis said the evidence gathered so far indicates the shooting was local.
Argument at park turned into gunfire
The shooting happened at what the sheriff’s office described as a large gathering in Carolyn Crayton Park, a public park in Macon about 85 miles southeast of Atlanta. According to Davis, the group at the center of the case had originally planned a birthday party at an Airbnb in Jones County.
Davis said the host made the group leave that property, and the attendees then gathered at the park in Bibb County. He said several students from Central High School and Northeast High School were among the people at the party.
Another group later arrived at the park, Davis said. He told reporters that an argument between the two groups escalated into gunfire, wounding 11 teens and young adults who were at the birthday gathering
What law enforcement has confirmed is narrow but significant. The victims were all in their late teens, and all were part of the birthday party group, according to Davis and the sheriff’s office.
Authorities have not announced any arrests. They also have not publicly identified any suspects, described how many shooters may have been involved, or released a motive beyond the argument Davis said preceded the gunfire.
The case remains under investigation. The sheriff said federal agents are assisting because of the scale of the shooting, though he added that investigators so far believe the incident was local rather than tied to people from outside the area.
The shooting’s local reach is clear from the schools Davis named. He said several students from nearby Central High School and Northeast High School were part of the gathering, linking the violence directly to families and campuses in the Macon area.
For residents, the next step is the criminal investigation. Davis said no arrests had been made as of the latest public update, and authorities had not said when additional details about suspects or evidence might be released.
What is known is that investigators are working a case with 11 wounded victims, including two in critical condition, after a birthday party gathering ended in mass gunfire at a city park. That left Macon facing one of the largest single shooting scenes Sheriff Davis said he could recall.