16-year-old dies after shooting near Clayton neighborhood clubhouse

A Clayton County police officer decided to tread carefully over the weekend while responding to a shooting that left a teenage boy dead, according to an incident report obtained Monday. The officer had been flagged down by one of the victim’s friends Saturday night at a neighborhood clubhouse at the intersection of Paladin Drive and Trafalgar Way near Hampton, where 16-year-old Zion Barrett was found shot in the nearby bushes, the report stated. “I went around the other side of the clubhouse to ensure no individuals were hiding, in case of a possible ambush,” the officer wrote in the report. The officer met with a teenage witness, who said he was with Barrett and another friend at the nearby intersection of Starling Trail and Paladin Drive when they saw about five lasers shining from the side of a residence, followed by gunfire. They then ran toward the clubhouse and saw Barrett collapse, according to the report. Soon after, the witness said he called 911. Nike shoes were found in both the road and bushes where Barrett was located. The teen was taken to the hospital but died there, police said. The witness said the trio was driven there by his
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