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Kirkwood bike trail shooting: Robbers took wallet, iPhone

Kirkwood and East Lake

Kirkwood bike trail shooting: Robbers took wallet, iPhone

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Photo from Xavier Arnold's Facebook page.

X’avier Arnold. Source: Facebook

It was the late afternoon of Dec. 26 when three friends walking on a trail along Rogers Street stopped to take pictures of graffiti behind a warehouse.

Two strangers approached. The precise details of what happened next aren’t detailed in an Atlanta Police report obtained via an open records request. After what the report describes as a “physical altercation” X’avier Arnold, a U.S. Army reservist and SCAD student, was shot in the head. He later died from his injuries.

The other male had a gunshot wound in his upper thigh “but was alert, conscious, and breathing.” The female was not injured, the report says.

According to the report, the only items stolen were a wallet and an iPhone belonging to Arnold’s friends. Atlanta police have charged an unnamed juvenile with Arnold’s and are actively looking for the other suspect. The juvenile is reportedly 14.

When police received the call, they raced to the scene.

“I observed a white male on his knees cradling a black male’s head, which was covered by apparent blood,” the responding officer’s report says. The “white male” was an off-duty DeKalb County EMT who lived nearby and responded after he heard three gun shots.

The report said Arnold’s companions were visibly upset, “telling (Arnold) to hang on.”

The officer noted that Arnold was unresponsive and struggled to breathe. All three rode in an ambulance to the hospital.

After police taped off the scene, a crime scene technician arrived and began taking pictures and collecting evidence.

“This included a 9 mm bullet casing, and a black knit hat,” the report says.

The investigation continues.