The woman fatally shot outside Palmetto Elementary School has been identified as 34-year-old Eboni Anderson, a mother of three who was making a DoorDash delivery when she was struck by multiple gunshots. Anderson, a Fulton County parent whose own children attend a different elementary school in the district, is remembered by her stepfather, Tariq Robinson, as a devoted mother who gave everything for her eight-year-old twins and 18-month-old son.
The shooting occurred shortly after 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, just outside the main entrance of Palmetto Elementary on Carlton Road in Palmetto, Georgia. A staff member triggered an emergency alert, placing approximately 550 students into an immediate hard lockdown.
Students were later moved to Bear Creek Middle School in Fairburn and released to their parents. Principal Jacqueline Bowens assured families that law enforcement described the incident as a domestic dispute that extended onto school grounds, emphasizing that no students or staff were ever in danger and that safety protocols were followed as trained.
The suspected gunman, 39-year-old Christopher Loris Ates, was tracked to Middle Georgia. The Houston County Sheriff’s Office spotted Ates’s vehicle in Warner Robins near Russell Parkway and Highway 41 and initiated a pursuit. After several unsuccessful PIT maneuvers, Ates’s vehicle struck a semi-truck and a guardrail near Highway 96 at the Houston-Twiggs county line, leaving the roadway and coming to rest down an embankment. Ates fled on foot into nearby woods but was quickly captured.
Following the arrest, deputies discovered a crying juvenile inside Ates’s vehicle. The child was removed, evaluated by EMS, and placed in the custody of the Houston County Sheriff’s Office Juvenile Division. Family members have confirmed the child is Anderson and Ates’s 17-month-old son, who was present during both the fatal shooting and the ensuing police chase.
Ates has been booked into the Houston County Jail on charges including reckless driving, fleeing or eluding police, and second-degree cruelty to children. Additional charges are pending in Warner Robins, and Fulton County police have stated they are finalizing murder charges and pursuing further warrants. Court records show Ates previously served ten years in prison following a 2006 armed robbery conviction in Houston County.
Anderson is remembered by loved ones as a beautiful, kind, and gentle soul whose warmth touched everyone she met. A GoFundMe campaign established to help with funeral arrangements describes a family heartbroken beyond words. DoorDash issued a statement expressing sympathy for the Dasher’s loved ones and confirming the company is investigating and cooperating with authorities.
Palmetto Elementary reopened Wednesday with counselors and additional support staff available. A shaken community now confronts the reality that a mother delivering lunch was killed in front of a school with her toddler present—an act of domestic violence that turned a place of learning into a crime scene.
