Police working on ballistics evidence in bartender’s killing

Atlanta police detectives are comparing ballistics evidence from this week’s slaying of a Grant Park bartender to evidence found in similar robberies in the area.

Atlanta police Lt. Keith Meadows, commander of the homicide unit, declined to be more specific about the evidence comparison, which he hopes will help them solve the pre-dawn murder of 27-year-old John Henderson earlier this week at a restaurant, Standard Food & Spirits, on Memorial Drive east of downtown.

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John Henderson

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Henderson was shot four times after complying with robbers’ demands, police said.

Meadows said earlier there were two prior robberies in the same area in the past few weeks — one of which was in the Standard’s parking lot.

In that crime, two men got out of a small, dark-colored SUV and robbed a male employee in Standard’s parking lot, police said. More suspects were inside the SUV.

One of the robbers fired one round at the man as they fled in the vehicle, missing the victim.

The robbery is similar to Henderson’s because the suspects shot at the employee after he, too, complied with their demands, Meadows said. A laptop and other items were taken.

As of Friday afternoon, homicide detectives had not yet identified any suspects in Henderson’s case.

But more details have surfaced about the crime. Police believe that the four robbers were outside the Standard, casing the eatery, for a period of time before they burst in and accosted Henderson and a bartender.

Just 10 minutes before the robbery, an Atlanta police officer had been writing a police report in his patrol car in a parking lot across the street from the Standard, Meadows said.

Detectives believe that the robbers saw the officer and waited for him to leave before tossing a brick through the Standard’s glass front door.

Also on Friday, the Police Department called an afternoon news conference to publicize that the Crime Stoppers reward for information leading to the arrest of Henderson’s killer has more than doubled, to $10,500. And it’s expected grow larger, as more people in the community come forward to contribute, said Dave Wilkinson, president of the Atlanta Police Foundation, which created the Crime Stoppers tipline.

“Someone out there knows who these suspects are,” Wilkinson said at the conference. “Someone can identify them.”

The department has received numerous tips but none have led anywhere, Meadows said.

Police said they do not have a detailed description of the robbers, partly because the female bartender who survived the robbery did not get a good look at them.

Anyone with information on the robbery and homicide at the Standard bar is asked to call Crime Stoppers Atlanta at 404-577-8477.

DONATIONS

To donate to the John Henderson Memorial Fund, go to www.grantpark.org and follow the link to make a donation via credit card or mail donations by check or money order to: Grant Park Neighborhood Association, P. O. Box 89235, Atlanta, GA 30312. Please designate “John Henderson Memorial Fund” on the donation.