An “extremely dangerous” man has been arrested in connection with two shootings in Midtown, Atlanta police said Thursday.
Elijah Payton was spotted shortly after 4 p.m. near Woodruff Park, Atlanta police spokesman John Chafee said.
The first shooting occurred Sept. 16 in the 1000 block of Peachtree Walk, near 11th Street, police said.
According to an incident report, Payton shot Vincent Hayward in the thigh after Hayward refused to turn over a plastic bag of fig energy bars and a cellphone charger. Hayward ran before falling in a parking lot on 13th Street. He was taken to Atlanta Medical Center for treatment.
The second shooting occurred Monday as a group of men left Bulldogs, a bar on Peachtree Street, Atlanta police Officer Donald Hannah said.
The group said Payton followed them as they walked along the 800 block of Juniper Street and told them he wanted to go home with them, according to police.
When the group turned him down, Payton told them he was homeless, Hannah said.
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One of the men, identified by police as Oliver Jesse, gave Payton $5 so he would go away. Instead, Payton threatened to kill Jesse, lifted his shirt and pulled out a gun, Hannah said.
The men started running, and Jesse was shot in the stomach. He was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he is in stable condition, police said.
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