Cops have surveillance video of man who robbed Forrest

By MARCUS GARNER

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta police on Thursday released surveillance video of at least one suspect in the shooting death of boxing great Vernon Forrest.

The video is from security cameras at the Whitehall Street gas station where Forrest was robbed and a nearby apartment complex.

“The images are good enough to get a mug shot of the robber,” Detective Lt. Keith Meadows said of footage showing an armed man in jeans and a black T-shirt.

Police are looking for three to four men in connection with the Saturday night killing of the 38-year-old boxer.

“We believe that the person that robbed Mr. Forrest and the one who actually murdered him is not the same person,” Meadows said.

One man robbed Forrest at gunpoint, taking his diamond and gold “4X World Champion” ring and a Rolex watch, police said. Forrest pulled a gun from his waist and went after the robber, police said.

A second man shot Forrest multiple times in the back after he chased the robber, police said. And at least one other man was in a red Pontiac Grand Prix that later retrieved the robber and the shooter, police said.

“Security footage actually picks up the [robbery] suspect, but Mr. Forrest actually loses sight of the subject,” Meadows said.

Investigators used time stamps from video recorded at the 505 Fulton Street apartment building and the Whitehall Street convenience store to compile a timeline of events, Meadows said.

Footage from the gas station shows the Pontiac pull into the station, and the man police say was the robber get out.

Video from the apartment complex showed the same man enter a breezeway, carrying a silver handgun, just after police said Forrest had given chase.

“At that point Mr. Forrest comes around the corner, and he encounters another individual we believe has a gun in his hand,” Meadows said, citing witness accounts. “Mr. Forrest and this individual exchange words, and he realizes this is not the individual that actually robbed him ... Mr. Forrest turns and walks away.”

The armed man shot Forrest seven or eight times, police said.

The apartment footage later showed the robber waiting in the breezeway and talking on his cell phone before being picked up by the Pontiac.

The car then drove south on McDaniel Street, Meadows said.

The Atlanta Police Department is asking anyone with information on this incident to call investigators at 404-577-TIPS (8477).