A robbery victim turned the tables on his assailants late Monday night, shooting and killing an alleged robber during a home invasion at an apartment complex in Gwinnett County, police said. Two of the dead man’s alleged accomplices are in custody facing murder charges.
The robbery happened just before midnight at the Valencia Apartments on Springs Lane near Peachtree Corners.
Gwinnett police Cpl. Michele Pihera said the victim told officers he retrieved his gun after seeing several men walking across his back patio.
The suspects later knocked on his front door, and when he answered the door, they asked him to step outside, according to Pihera.
“When the victim said that he was not interested in stepping outside, that’s when the suspects forced their way inside the home,” she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “One of them was wearing a mask and one was armed with a bat. Inside the home was the victim’s family, a female and a small infant.”
Pihera said as soon as the suspects entered the apartment, “the victim used his firearm and discharged at least two rounds.”
One of the suspects was shot in the chest, and later died at North Fulton Medical Center. Investigators weren’t sure how he got to the hospital, Pihera said.
A second suspect, later identified as 32-year-old John Michael Bush was shot in the arm, and was arrested after showing up at Gwinnett Medical Center in Duluth for treatment, Pihera said.
Another man, 33-year-old Saveion Wylie Bush, also arrived at the hospital and was arrested.
“Saveion may have been the one who drove John to the hospital, or had showed up to visit with John,” Pihera said. “Saveion was not injured. Both of these men are related but their kinship is unknown at this time.”
Pihera said both John Bush and Saveion Bush were charged with first degree home invasion, aggravated assault and felony murder.
“The victim said one additional person was seen limping from the incident location,” Pihera said. “We don’t know if that [suspect] was shot or may have sprained an ankle or foot as a result of running away.”
A police K9 unit tracked blood from the incident location to another apartment in the same complex. Evidence was collected from that apartment, but no suspects were found inside.
Police have not released the name of the suspect killed.
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