Homicide detectives Thursday were investigating the shooting of a man found dead in the parking lot of a popular northeast Atlanta restaurant.

Officers responding to a 2:30 a.m. report of a shooting found the victim in the parking lot of The Real Chow Baby near the intersection of Ponce de Leon Avenue and Barnett Street.

Channel 2 Action News reported that the victim was found behind the wheel of a Chevrolet Impala. Atlanta police Capt. Paul Guerrucci said he had been shot in the chest.

The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office identified the man Friday as Kilon Williams, 24, of Atlanta.

While the victim was found in the parking lot of the restaurant, the shooting “actually happened in the roadway, so it has nothing to do with this business,” Guerrucci told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We believe that he might have been outside the car when the shooting initially started, then he collapsed inside his vehicle.”

He said investigators had not established a motive for the shooting.

Joshua Litton said he was just around the corner when he heard gunshots. When Litton went to investigate, he saw “the guy who was deceased in the car and I see somebody else shaking him,” he said. “And they’re saying, ‘Help! Help!’

“When he sees me, he turns the other way and starts running full speed,” Litton said of the man who was shaking the victim. “Still saying help, but running away and not looking back.”

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