Two men were killed Sunday night after gunfire erupted outside a fast-food restaurant on a busy stretch of Ponce de Leon Avenue.
The men were seen speaking with a group of people in a black SUV outside the Taco Bell on the corner of Parkway Drive before the shooting began, police told Channel 2 Action News.
“It appeared friendly conversation at first,” Atlanta police Lt. Andrea Webster said from the scene. “Then gunshots erupted from one of the occupants of the SUV.”
One man was found dead on a sidewalk when officers arrived around 10:30 p.m., and the other died at a hospital, the news station reported. The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office identified the men as Steve Sanon, 43, and Denorris Clark, 37.
The scene is about a half-mile from Ponce City Market in a busy shopping and restaurant district in northeast Atlanta. Leonard Davis said he was stopped at a nearby traffic signal and saw a crowd scatter after the shooting.
“I saw the crowd running,” he told Channel 2. “I was in my car at the light. We just get out of Dodge when you hear things like this.”
Bullets sprayed a vehicle in the drive-thru, but a Georgia State University student and a friend were not injured. University police Chief Joseph Spillane told the news station the student was a witness, not a party to the dispute.
“They were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Webster said. “(The car) was damaged, but none of those occupants were injured at all.”
Officers are now searching for three vehicles believed to be connected to this double homicide. The vehicles are a dark-colored Dodge Durango, a gray Chevrolet Trailblazer SS and a maroon Hyundai Tuscon, and police released surveillance photos of the vehicles of interest.
Credit: Atlanta Police Department
Credit: Atlanta Police Department
Anyone with information is asked to contact Atlanta police.
Tipsters can remain anonymous, and be eligible for rewards of up to $2,000, by contacting Crime Stoppers Atlanta at 404-577-8477, texting information to 274637 or visiting the Crime Stoppers website.
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