The deadly shooting of a man in his 70s at a DeKalb County gas station Monday afternoon does not appear to be random, according to police.
The victim, who was not named, had just paid for his gas at a BP near River and Panthersville roads and was standing at a pump when someone opened fire.
“He was getting gas and got into some kind of confrontation with a group of individuals,” DeKalb police spokeswoman Michaela Vincent told Channel 2 Action News from the scene. “Moments later it appears that shots rang (out), and the victim was struck.”
Dispute at gas station leads to shooting. One man dead, police now in ground search for shooter. Updates to come. This is on Panthersville Road in Dekalb county . pic.twitter.com/XctcpI65gg
— Tom Regan (@tomreganWSB) October 7, 2019
Karltez White told the news station he is having a hard time making sense of his friend’s death.
“Everybody he touched he just dropped knowledge on them, teaching them how to live life, how to be just a good human being,” he said. “I have never known this man to get into any altercation with anybody.”
The victim’s work vehicle loaded down with yard equipment was recovered from the scene, according to Channel 2.
Based on their initial investigation, Vincent said detectives do not believe the shooting was random. Police used K-9 units to search the surrounding area for multiple suspects, but the search came up short Monday.
The suspects were in a stolen red Nissan Altima that was later found burning on River Road after the shooting, Vincent told AJC.com. The car was reported stolen back in August.
Police are collecting and reviewing video from the area as part of the investigation, according to Vincent.
Anyone with information is asked to contact DeKalb police at 770-724-7850.
— Staff writer Chelsea Prince contributed to this article.
