The group moved to Carolyn Crayton Park after leaving a planned party location, authorities said, before a confrontation ended in gunfire.
MACON, Ga. — A birthday gathering that moved from a planned location in Jones County to one of Macon’s largest public parks ended in gunfire early Sunday, leaving 11 teenagers and young adults wounded, including two in critical condition.
The shooting at Carolyn Crayton Park involved young people ages 17 and 18, according to the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff David Davis said several students from nearby Central High School and Northeast High School were among those attending the gathering. Authorities said all 11 people wounded had been associated with the birthday party.
Davis said the celebration had initially been expected to take place at an Airbnb in Jones County. The host made the group leave the property, and partygoers later assembled at Carolyn Crayton Park. Investigators believe another group arrived at the park before an argument developed and escalated into gunfire.
Emergency dispatchers received reports of the shooting just after midnight Sunday. Deputies headed to the park while wounded people were being driven away from the scene in private vehicles. Authorities soon received reports that several gunshot victims were arriving at a local medical facility.
The sheriff’s office said the wounded included four 18-year-old males, five 17-year-old males and two 18-year-old females. One 18-year-old male and one 17-year-old male were listed in critical condition. The other nine were stable. Officials had not publicly released their names as of Sunday afternoon.
The shooting brought a major law enforcement response to a park closely tied to recreation and public gatherings in Macon. Carolyn Crayton Park, formerly known as Central City Park, is Macon’s largest and oldest public park. It includes sports fields, playground and picnic areas and Luther Williams Field, and it serves as a venue for festivals, tournaments and other community events.
The county has continued investing in the park as a recreation and sports destination. In August, local officials celebrated the reopening of a renovated ballfield there after nearly $1 million in special-purpose local sales tax funding was approved for improvements. County officials said at the time that the work was intended to expand opportunities for youth sports, tournaments and community use.
Sunday’s investigation extended beyond the park because victims arrived at a medical facility in several vehicles. Authorities said the influx of relatives, friends and vehicles prompted a lockdown of the emergency room area. Seven vehicles were eventually taken to the crime lab, including four used to transport wounded people and three recovered from the park.
The FBI joined local investigators because of the scale of the shooting and the number of people involved. Davis said Sunday that available evidence pointed to a local incident. Investigators had not announced arrests or publicly identified any suspected shooters, and authorities had not established a motive beyond the confrontation reported between the two groups.
The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division continued working Sunday to identify those responsible and reconstruct the events leading to the shooting. The conditions of nine victims were reported as stable, while the two critically wounded victims remained hospitalized.
Author note: Last updated September 27, 2026.