Three months after a man was shot in the back during Atlanta Black Pride Weekend, police report have concluded that the shooter was not motivated by hate.
Antonio Lonnell Starks, 26, of Atlanta, was arrested in connection with the Sept. 3 shooting of 27-year-old Ira Moorer, Atlanta police said. Moorer was shot about 5 a.m. on Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway after an argument inside the 1050 Social Club, where Starks worked as a security guard.
Shortly after the shooting, a GoFundMe page for Moorer alleged that his attacker beat, kicked and called him homophobic slurs before the shooting. Atlanta police public affairs director Carlos Campos said his department “brought in our Homeland Security team and LGBT liaisons to look into the bias crime allegations,” AJC.com reported.
However, Campos said Monday that “our investigators consulted with the FBI and our LGBT liaison and determined this case did not meet the criteria to be classified as a bias crime.”
Instead, investigators believe the shooting was the result of a fight that started in the club and spilled onto the street.
