An attempted slider crime turned deadly Wednesday when a man confronted the would-be thieves outside a gas station on Atlanta’s Westside, police said.
The victim was discovered shot around 11 p.m. and lying outside a BP station on the corner of 14th Street and Atlantic Drive by patrol officers working in the area, according to Atlanta police. He died at a hospital and was identified by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office as Prince Oluzor, 38.
Investigators believe the man was trying to stop a group of people from stealing a Mercedes-Benz, homicide commander Lt. Germain Dearlove told Channel 2 Action News.
“Currently, we believe that the victim walked in on the suspects possibly doing a slider crime, or trying to steal the vehicle,” Dearlove told the news station from the scene. “They shot at him.”
Slider crimes occur when a thief slides into an unattended vehicle to steal it or items inside. The suspects drove off in a silver sedan last seen headed west on 14th Street, Dearlove said.
The commander said investigators are looking for two or three people in connection with the shooting, which was the city’s 23rd and final homicide in the month of August. The suspects had not been publicly identified Thursday.
The pace of homicides had slowed in the summer months, with 16 homicide cases opened in June and eight in July, according to police data. With the 14th Street shooting, August was cemented as the deadliest month for the city of Atlanta so far this year.
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