Clayton News Daily

By Greg Gelpi

Bullets don't have names and can even kill unintended targets, said Sharle Sullivan, whose two sons attend Mundy's Mill High School.

Less than half of the school's students attended school Monday out of fear of continued gang-related violence. A member of the AMP Squad hit a member of a rival gang, the Southside Mafia, in the mouth with something last Friday, sending him to the hospital for stitches.

In what Clayton County police say could have been pay back, two people, one with a handgun and another wearing fatigues with an assault rifle, shot four people, killing one Saturday.

Clayton County schools spokesman Charles White said there were 402 absences Tuesday, as compared with the 1,044 absences Monday. There were no new reports of violence.

Sullivan, 39, said that she was aware of the presence of gangs, but that as of late things are "getting out of hand."

She fears that one of her sons, who is friends with one of the students involved in Friday's fight, may be retaliated against for simply being friends with someone in the fight.

"Kids are kids, understand that, but things are getting really dangerous," Sullivan said. "I'm afraid for their lives. Right now it isn't safe for them to be on the street - even just to walk."

In an effort to bring the community together and address parents' concerns regarding the violence, Mundy's Mill High School Principal Anthony Smith has called for a "community emergency meeting" at 7 p.m. Thursday in the school's commons.