Thousands waiting in line for two days at the Tri-Cities Plaza in Atlanta, to apply for rent discount vouchers couldn’t contain themselves and became unruly, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
AJC: People began lining up at the shopping center two days ago, and by Wednesday morning the crowd had grown to over several thousand people. East Point police, some wearing riot helmets, were patrolling the area. Firefighters and EMTs were attending to people who were overheating in the sun. Police from College Park, Hapeville, Fulton County and MARTA assisted in crowd control.
Felecia McGhee told the AJC she arrived around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday. She said the major problem began when people started breaking into the line and officials started moving the areas where they were handing out applications. She said she saw at least two small children trampled when the crowd rushed the building where the applications were to be handed out.
“It’s a real mess out here,” she said.