Duck, crawl, pray: Gwinnett bar employees back on job after machine-gun fire
Next to cleaning supplies and behind tinted windows, George Wright dropped to the floor and began crawling inside his Gwinnett County bar as bullets flew by his head and struck a nearby wall.
A man was firing into Harold’s Chicken and Ice Bar with a machine gun, Gwinnett police said, so the general manager’s survival instincts quickly took over as he yelled at his employees, most of whom were women, to duck and find cover.
Of the nearly dozen workers still inside shortly after closing time, some hid in the bathroom, others in the back by the kitchen, while a bartender stayed low behind the bar.
Wright then noticed his server lying in a nook by the entrance with a red stain on her leg. She wasn’t responding as she lay trapped next to broken glass during the chaos earlier this month, which lasted a couple of minutes.
So he put his arms and stomach close to the ground and slowly ventured about 30 feet to the front of the bar.
“When I got to her, she was in shock. She was praying,” Wright told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday afternoon, noting his relief when the stain turned out to be knocked-over hot sauce. “Most people have not been through things like that. It’s not normal.”
Two people suffered minor injuries Oct. 19 during the shooting that happened shortly after 2 a.m. when one of Harold’s regular customers allegedly opened fire from a vehicle in the Pleasant Hill Road shopping center. The man had left the bar moments earlier without paying his bill, according to a police report obtained by the AJC.
While no one was struck, Wright said the fear still lingers. Some employees needed time off to heal.
The man and his girlfriend each face a newly enacted charge, created by lawmakers last year to impose stiffer penalties for drive-by shootings. It has already been used by Gwinnett police and Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr’s office across the state.
After the original barrage of gunshots, police said a security guard and another employee, both of whom had legal firearms, returned fire and helped alert employees.
Afterward, bullet holes littered the windows and front door. Shattered glass covered the ground. Bullets also struck a wooden booth and the back wall, just a few inches from a portrait of the bar’s founder, Harold Pierce.
The suspects, Leamon Carter and Allyssa Amos, were known to Wright and his employees, the general manager said. They had birthday celebrations there, would joke around, and always paid their tab, he said.
So Wright was shocked at their alleged actions over an unpaid bar tab, especially considering he said he offered to cover the bill before they left.
But once the couple exited, police said they got into a Jeep Cherokee, waited in the parking lot for a few minutes and then went to the front entrance, where Carter fired at least 10 rounds. Amos is accused of driving the getaway car.
Wright said their bill for a chicken Philly cheesesteak and two Long Island drinks was $26.40.
“Like, come on, man, $26, you hurt somebody’s business that you have been a patron for over three years,” Wright said. “And you would shoot into a restaurant where you can’t see inside? Ten lives with 10 bullets, with no name, no destination.”
Both suspects were later apprehended at the Eclipse Apartments, about a mile away, after the Jeep was picked up by security cameras, police said. Amos was booked into the Gwinnett jail Oct. 19 and released the following day, the sheriff’s office said. Carter remained in jail Tuesday without bond while facing 10 counts of aggravated assault, online records show.
“At this time, neither my client nor I will be providing any public comments regarding this matter. We appreciate your interest and professionalism in reaching out,” Carter’s attorney, Alpesh Tailor, said in a statement.
Carter and Amos are also facing the new drive-by shooting charge that was signed into law in 2024 and can lead to stiffer jail time compared to aggravated assault, authorities said. The AG’s office said it recently used the new felony offense after 13 rounds were fired into a home occupied by an 11-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man in Augusta in May. The charge was part of SB 421, sponsored by Sen. Clint Dixon, who serves both Gwinnett and Barrow counties.
In Gwinnett, police spokesperson Cpl. Angela Carter said the department has previously used the charge, which can also help limit the possibility of a judge granting bond. Unlike an aggravated assault charge, bond for the drive-by shooting charge must be granted by a Superior Court judge, Carter said.
“So it just protects the community a little more and puts it in the hands of a higher court,” Carter told the AJC.
Wright likened the Gwinnett bar, which opened about four years ago, to the TV show “Cheers” and said he felt like a protector to his roughly 30 employees. To aid in their recovery, the bullet holes and spiderweb cracks near the bar’s entrance are now covered in Halloween decorations to keep them hidden.
“I’ve had a few employees who have had some nightmares, so I just try to be there for them,” Wright said. “Nobody expects to have to dodge bullets at work.”
Owner Bobbie Robinson said she is planning to meet with Gwinnett police this week to discuss safety plans, while Wright said they were in talks with the department to have officers patrol in the area over the weekends.
It was the latest incident at one of the bar’s metro Atlanta locations. A security guard and two bystanders were struck by gunfire during a shootout outside the Edgewood Avenue bar in Atlanta in 2023, and a mass shooting erupted outside that same location in July, even though it has been closed since January.
This month’s attack in Gwinnett has led to a downturn in customers, but some patrons heard about what happened and stopped by to show their support, Wright said. With the slower season upon them, he spent the morning after the shooting cleaning up, just so they could stay open.
Robinson, who also owns the bars in Edgewood and Marietta, said she hopes things will pick up once people feel safer.
On Monday afternoon, a handful of customers were laughing as they enjoyed food and drinks. Eight days after the gunfire, the atmosphere was beginning to feel like “Cheers” again.
“We just have to go on as business as usual. You cannot let things like this hold you back. The only thing you can do is learn from it,“ Robinson said. ”We want everyone to feel safe and secure and know that we are doing everything to make that possible."
