DEL.ICIO.USBartender’s killing could have been unintentional
Police correct other details of Grant Park killing
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Grant Park bartender John Henderson’s shooting death during a robbery early Wednesday morning may not have been intentional, Atlanta police disclosed.
Police had initially described Henderson’s murder behind the bar of the Standard Food and Spirits as an execution-style shooting.
Anthony Gentile, the homicide detective working the case, said Friday night that this and other details initially released about the case had been incorrect.
For example, Gentile said, Henderson’s gunshot wound did not come from a robber standing over him and shooting; the robbers never told Henderson and a female bartender to lie face-down on the floor; the woman never hid for safety; and none of the robbers said not to shoot her.
The young men who burst into the Standard Food & Spirits early Wednesday did not kill Henderson execution style, Gentile said. They shot Henderson once in the leg while he was behind the bar, then again in the same leg after they had taken both him and a female bartender into a back office, he said.
After robbing the bartenders of the business’s money, the robbers closed the office door and fired several shots through the door before they left.
Police spokesman James Polite late Saturday afternoon said the new information did not change the progress of the case, and that detectives were still investigating.
Gentile would not confirm that one of warning shots was the fatal bullet to Henderson’s head — he was shot three times, not four as originally reported by police — but the detective acknowledged that Henderson’s death could have been unintentional.
Gentile said he doesn’t have a good explanation for the misinformation given to the media by the Atlanta Police Department. Much early information released in the initial hours after the killing later was disproved by interviews with the female bartender, the autopsy and ballistics tests.
The detective on Friday gave a detailed account of how the robbery and killing actually unfolded:
Four or five robbers — they were partially disguised, possibly with bandannas — broke into the Standard by throwing a large rock through the front glass door. At the time, Henderson was behind the bar; his co-worker was in the rear office.
Two or three of the bandits went to Henderson at the bar; two others went to the back room where the woman was.
The cash register at the front was empty because the bartenders had already removed the money.
They shot Henderson once in his upper leg, then walked him to the office where the robbers demanded money. The bartenders turned it over without a fight.
Then a robber shot Henderson again, in the same leg.
The woman, who had bent over and had her head down, begged the robbers not to kill her. They didn’t. Instead, they closed the door and left, firing shots through the 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.
It’s expected to 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.
Anyone with information on the robbery and homicide at the Standard bar is asked to call Crime Stoppers Atlanta at 404-577-8477.
— Reporter Marcus K. Garner contributed to this story.
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.
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