Atlanta Midtown High-Rise Shootings: Victim ID'd, 911 Callers Describe Scene

ATLANTA — A gunman killed during deadly shootings early Wednesday morning jumped from balconies at a Midtown high-rise building, tried to break apartment windows and fired a rifle at police from 21 stories up, witnesses and police said.

An Atlanta woman was killed during the incident, and the gunman — found dead after the incident — may have admitted to another death, according to a witness.

Emergency dispatch recordings released by Atlanta Police on Friday illustrate just what kind of threat police and neighbors faced when, police say, 32-year-old Jarvis Jarrett of Milledgeville went on a rampage at the Atlantic House on West Peachtree Street.

He opened fire at arriving police from a balcony with a rifle, and at least one officer returned gunfire. Eventually, police said officers found 31-year-old Courtney Cox dead inside an apartment and Jarrett dead on a balcony.

“He just got on the balcony,” a caller from across West Peachtree Street from the shooter told a 911 operator. “He’s trying to jump into the next apartment. He’s right at the edge. He could fall off the building. He got into the next apartment … he’s trying to break the window wall. I think there is a gun in his hand.”

During the call, yelling could be heard in the background, then gunfire.

“Please be careful. There’s definitely a gun,” the male caller responded.

Police began receiving reports just after 3 a.m. of shots fired and the disturbance coming from the 21st floor of the high-rise building at 1163 W. Peachtree St.

Another caller who said he lived across West Peachtree and had binoculars described Jarrett’s behavior.

“He’s totally just climbing over on the (next) apartment,” the male caller said. “If you’re on a balcony and kind of connected by a wall, it looks like he kind of came around to the next balcony … he climbed around so he could fall into the balcony.”

But from a closer look, the caller described the two apartments — one with all the lights on and “all the windows are smashed out,” and another completely dark. The caller said the shirtless, “vigilant” Jarrett was straddling the banisters of the balconies surveying his surroundings. And he was heavily armed.

“He’s got some sort of a rifle,” the caller said. “He’s going back-forth-back-forth trying to make sure nobody’s coming.”

Several callers weren’t in sightline of the incident but could hear the gunfire and yelling.

“There have been multiple, multiple, multiple gunshots echoing off the other buildings,” a woman told a 911 operator. “It’s been going on for 15 minutes.”

Another caller was able to make out what was being yelled out into the Midtown night.

“I stepped out on my balcony and heard somebody say, ‘Man, I’m turned right now. Good lord, this is gonna get on the news. I killed that man … I killed that (expletive),’” the caller told a dispatcher. “He said he killed two people.”

When asked if he was willing to meet with police, the caller who heard the shouted confession agreed but acknowledged his fear.

“To be honest with you, I’m kind of scared to leave my apartment right now,” the caller said. “I can still hear him screaming.”

The Georgia Bureau of Investigations is investigating the officer-involved shooting, and Atlanta police continue to investigate the death of the woman found at the building.