Atlanta police investigate deadly shooting inside vacant dentist office

Atlanta police are investigating a homicide after a 37-year-old unhoused man was shot and killed inside a dentist office that authorities say is no longer in use.

(CNN)- Atlanta police are investigating a homicide after a 37-year-old unhoused man was shot and killed inside a dentist office that authorities say is no longer in use.

Officers were seen going in and out of the building as detectives processed the scene. Police say the dentist was detained for questioning following the shooting. According to Lt. Christopher Butler with the Atlanta Police Department, officers responded after receiving reports of gunfire.

“Upon arrival they met a male who had told them he encountered somebody inside his business and there’d been an exchange of gunfire,” Butler said.

Investigators say it appears the dentist first noticed the man through a camera system, but they are still working to confirm the details. Authorities are also trying to determine what led up to the shooting and whether the unhoused man was armed. The dentist office is located next to a church along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Part of the property was blocked off as police conducted their investigation.

Pastor Dwayne Truitt, whose church sits beside the office, said it is not unusual to see people on the property.

“It’s not unfamiliar to me that someone would be here on the property,” Truitt said.

He added that he regularly sees an unhoused man around the church and nearby buildings, though he is unsure if it was the same individual who was killed. The investigation remains ongoing.