In the early hours of May 18, 2019, a celebration turned into a scene of tragedy in Atmore, Alabama, leading to the death of 19-year-old Chrishawn Jermaine Westry. The young man was attending a private party with as many as 600 other people, held inside the cafeteria of the old middle school on Martin Luther King Drive. The festive atmosphere took a dark turn around 2 a.m. when an altercation broke out between two women.
As several men tried to intervene, gunfire erupted within the crowded room.
Westry was reportedly standing near one of the shooters when the hail of bullets began. He was caught in the crossfire and appeared to have been killed instantly. The chaotic scene left eight other individuals wounded but they ultimately survived their injuries. Investigators later noted that all but one door and window of the cafeteria had been locked or chained shut, compounding the danger for those trapped inside.
More than two months after the fatal shooting, on August 5, 2019, the Atmore Police Department announced the arrests of two suspects in connection with Westry's death. Michael Lashan Weaver Jr., 21, and Michael Bernard Pettway, 22, both from Atmore, were taken into custody and charged with murder. The breakthrough in the case came when officers went to serve outstanding, unrelated warrants on the two men and discovered evidence that linked them to the shooting. Both Weaver and Pettway were being held on a $500,000 bond. Police continued to investigate in order to identify other potential shooters involved in the incident that injured the other victims.
