Two good Samaritans were shot Tuesday afternoon when they tried to stop two men from stealing a car at a Buckhead dry cleaning business, Atlanta police said.
The victims were found with gunshot wounds to their shoulders when police responded to the 1800 block of Peachtree Road NE around 12:10 p.m., Atlanta police spokeswoman TaSheena Brown said.
According to Brown, a motorist left his 2016 black Volvo SUV running in the parking lot when he went inside Peachtree Cleaners and Laundry during a lunch break. When he returned, he noticed a man sitting in the driver’s seat.
When the suspect tried to drive off, the motorist opened the driver’s-side door and the two got into a scuffle, Brown said.
“I had him in a headlock and when he got loose and got back into the vehicle, they kept shooting toward me,” the motorist told Channel 2 Action News. “And that’s when they shot my vehicle.”
The two victims intervened by attempting to block the car from leaving the parking lot, Brown said. The men were shot by a second suspect who pulled up in a silver Volkswagen Jetta, police said.
“This white truck with two guys in it pulled up and tried to be good Samaritans,” eyewitness Kelly McCoy told Channel 2. “And they actually hit the front of the car to stop him from leaving.”
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Both victims were stable when they were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, police spokesman Officer Anthony Grant said.
The suspects fled the scene in the Jetta, which had been reported stolen out of Smyrna, Brown said. The car was later found abandoned on Collier Road.
The motorist told Channel 2 that the incident taught him a valuable lesson.
“The whole experience taught me it’s easier sometimes to let things go,” he told the news station. “Let them take the car. It can be replaced. Don’t leave your keys in the car.”
Police blocked Peachtree Road for about two hours, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center. All lanes reopened around 3:20 p.m.
