More than four months after a father was gunned down in a robbery outside an East Point ATM, police have announced an arrest in the case.
Shane Knight, 49, was arrested on a charge of murder in connection with the Nov. 26 shooting of Juan Lopez, East Point police announced Thursday. Detectives said they have worked relentlessly since the shooting, which rocked the East Point community and robbed a family of their husband and father.
Credit: East Point Police Department
Credit: East Point Police Department
Investigators believe Lopez, 29, was shot by one of several men in a silver vehicle outside the Wells Fargo ATM on East Point Street. He was located there by police about 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 26 and later died at Grady Memorial Hospital.
“We are still currently looking for others that may be involved in this case and will not stop until they are identified,” a police spokesperson said Thursday.
East Point police released surveillance video that appears to show a man in a gray hooded sweatshirt walking through the Waffle House parking lot on Washington Road shortly after the deadly shooting. The short-order restaurant is across the street from the ATM where Lopez was killed.
Investigators are looking to identify the man but have not said if they believe he is one of the outstanding suspects.
According to his family, Lopez had just finished washing his truck and stopped by the ATM to deposit some cash on his way home that night. He was on the phone with his sister when he was shot.
His sister had called to confirm his clothing sizes before she went to buy his birthday presents, Lopez’s wife Yessica told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He would have turned 30 on Dec. 29.
Lopez was ordered out of his truck as he was leaving the ATM, his wife said. While still on the line, Lopez’s sister heard someone say “bro, cough up them keys.”
“And (Juan) is like, ‘No, bro. Don’t do this to me. I know you,’” Yessica Lopez said, retelling her sister-in-law’s account of their last conversation.
After his death, his family raised money for his body to be taken to Mexico, where he could be buried beside his grandparents. While raising support on Facebook, his wife described the ordeal as her “worst nightmare” and said she would not wish this kind of pain “not even on murderers.”
Credit: Caroline Silva
Credit: Caroline Silva
The two were high school sweethearts and the parents of a 1-year-old son.
“I can’t understand. If they knew Juan, they knew he had a family, they knew he was a good person, they knew he wouldn’t hurt a fly,” Yessica Lopez told the AJC after his death. She described him as “the type of person that wanted everyone around him to be happy.”
A GoFundMe campaign created to help with funeral expenses raised more than $13,000.
Knight, the murder suspect, was already in federal custody when charges were brought against him, East Point police confirmed Thursday. Since 1993, he has been incarcerated three times in Georgia for offenses in Clayton, Henry, Fayette, Rockdale and Fulton counties, state prison records show. His convictions ranged from forgery to theft and burglary.
Most recently, Knight was convicted in Fulton County of possessing a firearm as a felon out and served two years before his release in 2008.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact East Point police at policedepartment@eastpoiontcity.org or 404-559-6300. 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.
— Staff writer Caroline Silva contributed to this article.
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