17-05-2025
Midtown mass shooting survivor says active shooter training ahead of World Cup ‘will save lives'
This month marks two years since the mass shooting inside a Northside Hospital clinic in midtown Atlanta.
One survivor is praising first responders for an active shooter training exercise conducted this week.
'I think it's a good thing,' Alesha Hollinger told Channel 2's Courtney Francisco.
Hollinger was inside the clinic when a man shot her and four other women. A bullet hit her in the face. Amy St. Pierre died.
'The impact continues, you know, for myself, and especially those who have lost family members in this situation,' Hollinger said.
She said police training exercises that are ramping up ahead of the FIFA World Cup are encouraging.
'Any way that we can mitigate the risk of an active shooter situation is very positive,' Hollinger said.
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Officers told Francisco earlier this week that they are practicing emergency response in areas that will be crowded across the city when visitors show up to enjoy the FIFA World Cup games in June 2026.
Retired APD Detective Vince Velazquez warns there's another piece to the training that we must not forget.
'The community, training businesses, schools, on what to do as a civilian when you are faced with active shooter situations,' Velazquez said.
He said to know your exits, prepare to fight back if you must, and if you can't get out, hide.
'We actually had to unclip our IDs, slide them under the door so they could see we are police officers, and that's the right thing to do. You don't want to trust anybody until you're comfortable opening that door,' Velazquez said.
Hollinger said the more we walk about it, the better off we will be.
'Obviously, things happen very quickly, but I think the more that we can be aware, and make sure that we're sharing that awareness with our family and friends, I think it will save lives,' Hollinger said.
