In the heart of downtown Atlanta, a normal Tuesday afternoon at the bustling Georgia State MARTA station turned into a scene of sudden violence that claimed the life of 63-year-old John Marty Torres. On October 31, 2023, while sitting on a bench in the bus loop area near Jesse Hill Jr. Drive, Torres was fatally shot. The incident occurred around 1:25 p.m., a time when the station would have been frequented by students and commuters.
Surveillance footage from the scene captured the
chilling moments leading up to the shooting. A man, later identified as 22-year-old Paul Niqual Mitchell, was seen pacing back and forth behind Torres shortly after Torres had seated himself on the bench. Without any apparent provocation visible on the video, Mitchell allegedly fired a single shot from behind, striking Torres. In the moments that followed the initial shot, as Torres lay on the ground, Mitchell is said to have fired his 9mm handgun multiple more times in rapid succession.
The response from law enforcement was swift. MARTA police officers arrived at the station just before 1:30 p.m. to a scene that had been sealed off. They found Mitchell still at the location, and he reportedly admitted to the shooting. He was taken into custody moments later. The motive, as Mitchell later claimed to investigators, was that he believed Torres had touched him. He also made statements about feeling as though people were chasing him and that his life was in danger prior to the incident.
Following his arrest, Paul Niqual Mitchell was booked into the county jail. He is facing charges of felony murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. It was also revealed that Mitchell was facing charges of aggravated assault and sexual battery from a separate incident that occurred in April of the same year. He is being held without bond as the investigation into the death of John Marty Torres continues. Torres was pronounced dead at the scene by the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office.
