Serving DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale Counties Volume 18 Number 10
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AUGUST 15, 2012
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Family seeks suspect who shot elderly mom By Valerie J. Morgan
Evelyn Atwater
ATLANTA—Evelyn Atwater’s family is asking for the public’s help in finding the man who brutally beat her and shot in the head during a home invasion. The 86-year-old woman was attacked on July 6 around 6:30 a.m. at the QLS Senior Complex on Campbellton Road, where she lives in Atlanta. Police have had no solid
leads in the case and have yet to make an arrest, family members said. The suspect, a black male, rummaged through some drawers, took Atwater’s keys and fled on foot. Police captured an image of the suspect on a surveillance tape. “He struggled with her and then shot her in the head,” said Stanley Atwater. “She managed to get to a neighbor’s house. She was bleeding when she got to the hospital. We
didn’t realize until three hours later that she had been shot in the head.” Atwater had developed blood clots in her lungs several days ago and families feared she would not make it. Miraculously, however, she pulled through. Atwater, who lost sight in one eye from the injuries, is now going through rehabilitation therapy to help her regain her motor skills, said her daughter, Wendy Truitt.
Atwater has five sons and one daughter. Before retirement, she worked at the West Lake Girls Center, the federally-funded Economic Opportunity Authority (EOA) and as a para-professional in Atlanta Public Schools. “My mother is just a sweet old lady. We’re just hoping that someone out there knows something and will contact the police,” said Stanley Atwater.
Life After Iraq
Former POW Shoshana Johnson is among military women lauded at Atlanta prayer breakfast By Valerie J. Morgan
ATLANTA—It’s been nine years since U.S. Army Specialist Shoshana Johnson was shot in both legs and held a Prisoner of War in Iraq. Though Johnson is quick to smile for the media’s cameras these days, she’s still haunted by the harrowing 22 days she spent in captivity in March 2003. U.S. Marines rescued Johnson and six other POWs in April 2003 after conducting house raids in the Iraqi city of Samarra. “I still have some tough days,” Johnson said during an interview with On Common Ground News. “Even though I physically left Iraq, I didn’t leave it mentally.” The 39-year-old El Paso, Texas resident was celebrated for her heroism during an Aug. 11 prayer breakfast held at the Comfort Inn and Conference Center in Atlanta. The event was hosted by Tincie Lynch, founder and executive director of TM Lynch Ministries. Lynch, who served in the Army for 14 years, said she invited Johnson and the four other honorees because too often female veterans are overlooked or forgotten for their service. Following the breakfast, Johnson conducted a book signing for her
Photo by Glenn L. Morgan/OCG News
Shoshana Johnson, the country’s first black female Prisoner of War, held a book signing for her memoir, “I’m Still Standing,” during her Aug. 11 visit to Atlanta.
memoir, “I’m Still Standing.” “Shoshana received a lot of calls and support in the beginning, but now the phone doesn’t ring as much anymore,” said Lynch. “She went through a lot. I just think we need to make sure she and other veterans are never forgotten.” Several pastors and ministry leaders, along with State Rep. Billy Mitchell, who represents District 88 in DeKalb County, and Legislative Director Joel Alvarado, who represented DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis, were among
those who honored Johnson and Dr. Tincie Lynch with proclamations from the state and county respectively at the sold-out breakfast. “We could not have pulled it off without all of our sponsors. I really thank them,” Dr. Lynch said. “I also really appreciate our keynote speaker, Pastor Sherita L. Porter of Maryland. She did an outstanding job.” Johnson, an Army cook with the 507th Maintenance Company out of Fort Bliss, Texas, earned the dubious distinction as the nation’s first black female POW. She was riding in a small convoy of diesel mechanics, truck drivers, technicians, supply specialists and cooks when they got lost and were ambushed by Iraqis on March 23, 2003 in the city of Nasariyah. Eleven U.S. soldiers were killed in the attack, including one woman. The rescue of Johnson and six other survivors on April 13, 2003 followed that of Private First Class Jessica Lynch, a white female POW who was rescued on April 1, 2003. Lynch, who was critically injured in the ambush, became the most popular POW of Operation Iraqi Freedom when Marines recovered her after staging a diversionary attack and besieging the hospital, where she was held. According to initial news reports, Lynch, a supply clerk, went down fighting in Rambo fashion. She later testified in a Congressional hearing, however, that she did not fire a single round in the attack. Johnson said the ambush and rescue efforts are something she will never forget. “We lost 11 people that day. They were all like See Johnson, page 6
Atlanta population grows despite sluggish economy By Valerie J. Morgan
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otlanta is not as hot as it once was in the 1990s, but the metro area is still a magnet for transplants, new statistics show. The 10-county Atlanta region added some 37,200 people between April 1, 2011, and April 1, 2012, according to the U.S. Census. The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) says although the number is higher than the previous year, it marks a fourth consecutive year of slower-thannormal growth when compared to the numbers the region experienced from 2000-2007. INSIDE
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“While this growth is certainly slower than what we became accustomed to in the ‘90s and 2000s, this pace is laudable in the face of the economic pressures we face,” said Doug Hooker, ARC Executive Director. Metro Atlanta is now home to 4,179,500 people, making it larger than 24 states, according to U.S. Census data. The 10-county Atlanta region includes Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale counties. Applemania Cook is among those who can be counted in Atlanta’s recent population increase. Cook, 26, moved to the metro area July 2011 from Lakeland, FL. She says a better job opportunity brought her to Atlanta, as well as the belief that she could succeed here. “I just always wanted to move to Atlanta because I believe that it is an up-and-coning place for black professionals,” said Cook, who landed a job teaching second grade at C.J. Hicks Elementary School in Conyers. Cook said as she completed her master’s degree at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, one of the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities, her eyes and heart were set
Applemania Cook, who moved to the Atlanta area in 2011, now calls the city home.
on coming to a progressive Atlanta. She had friends and relatives helping her to search for a job and a place to live. “It was a blessing that I found a job in a place where I also have relatives and friends already living here,” said Cook, who is entering her second year as a
Photo by Joshua Smith/OCG News
teacher in Rockdale County and hopes to buy a house in the near future. Winston Drayton, 27, shares Cook’s belief that Atlanta is still a promising destination. Drayton came to Atlanta on See Transplants, page 6