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Early yesterday morning, a 16-year-old boy named Jakari Rayshard Brooks was fatally shot in a northwest Atlanta neighborhood. The incident occurred on the 1000 block of Cato Street NW. According to FOX 5, police responded to the scene after receiving reports of a shooting at around 4:30 a.m. They discovered Jakari's body in a wooded area behind a home, not far from where his own family lives.

The tragedy struck close to home for the Brooks family, as Jakari was the nephew of Rayshard Brooks, a Black man whose fatal shooting by Atlanta police in 2020 sparked widespread protests. Stardrecous Brooks, Jakari's mother, explained in a statement to FOX 5 that her son was killed during an altercation presumed to have been over a scooter. "The people start shooting," she recounted, placing the time of the first shots at around 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday night. Despite hearing gunshots and subsequent police activity, the family claims they were left in the dark, until Jakari's older brother went to search for him and found his body.

As details of the case continue to remain scarce, the community has expressed concerns about potential retaliation. Local activist Gary Stokes, who assisted the Brooks family in the past, emphasized the gravity of the situation during his visit to the crime scene and conveyed a compelling need for peace within the afflicted family and community. In parallel, Leonard Dungee of the HOPE Hustlers aims to quell the cycle of violence. "Because this is a young man. He had a young brother," Dungee explained in an interview with 11Alive, stressing the need to "make sure it stops here because violence is a disease."

The Atlanta Police Department has yet to release substantial details regarding the investigation or any potential suspects. They are, however, urging anyone with knowledge pertinent to the shooting to step forward. The case lays bare, once more, the relentless scourge of gun violence that continues to bother not just a single family affected by a former tragedy but indeed, the broader bereaved collective of a whole city.