12 Teens Injured in Shooting at Birthday Party in Local Park

A birthday celebration in Georgia turned into chaos early Sunday when gunfire erupted at a Macon park, leaving 12 teenagers wounded and sending two of them to the hospital in critical condition.

The shooting happened shortly after midnight on Sept. 27 at Carolyn Crayton Park, where a large group of young people had gathered near the skatepark area for an 18th birthday party.

According to the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, a second group arrived across the street and the two sides began arguing.

Investigators say firearms were displayed and both groups then began shooting at one another.

Deputies were dispatched at 12:06 a.m., but before they reached the park, several victims had already been driven to the hospital in private vehicles.

Authorities ultimately identified 12 shooting victims.

They included one 19-year-old male, four 18-year-old males, five 17-year-old males and two 18-year-old females.

A 17-year-old and an 18-year-old were listed in critical but stable condition. The other victims were reported in stable condition.

The sudden arrival of so many shooting victims triggered another emergency at the hospital.

Officials said the emergency department was temporarily placed on lockdown as relatives, friends and vehicles began crowding the area.

Investigators also seized seven vehicles as evidence — four that had transported victims to the hospital and three that were left behind at the park.

Ten witnesses were taken to the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division for interviews as detectives began trying to reconstruct exactly how the shootout started. The sheriff’s CID is the unit responsible for gathering evidence, interviewing witnesses and investigating violent crimes in the county.

Sheriff David Davis said several of the injured teens attend nearby Central High School and Northeast High School.

The party had reportedly started somewhere else.

According to Davis, the group initially rented an Airbnb in Jones County for a girl’s 18th birthday celebration.

The property owner reportedly became concerned about activity at the party and asked the group to leave.

The teenagers then moved the gathering to Carolyn Crayton Park.

That decision placed dozens of young people together at a public park after midnight — and within a short time, deputies were responding to reports of gunfire.

No arrests had been announced in the latest update.

Authorities also have not publicly identified who fired first or said how many weapons were involved.

The investigation remains active, with detectives reviewing witness statements, vehicles and other physical evidence from the scene.

The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information to call 478-751-7500 or Macon Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-877-68CRIME. The sheriff’s official site confirms those contact numbers.