In the span of 12 hours, two metro Atlanta grocery store parking lots were transformed into grisly crime scenes as police investigated separate fatal shootings.
The first took place Wednesday afternoon near a Publix at a North Decatur shopping center, authorities confirmed.
Officers were called to Emory Commons on North Decatur Road for reports of a shooting, DeKalb County police spokeswoman Officer Elise Wells said. At the scene, police found a man in his car dead from a gunshot wound.
The victim was later identified as Lewayne Terrell, 43, the DeKalb Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed.
Police have released few details, but Wells confirmed that detectives had been sent to the scene and were pursuing “a few” leads. She did not say if a suspect had been identified or if anyone had been taken into police custody.
Multiple witnesses at the scene said the man was shot while sitting in his car, Channel 2 Action News reported. Several expressed shock at the brazenness of the shooting, which took place around midday in the shopping center’s busy parking lot.
“It’s lunchtime, you come down to do some grocery shopping at Publix and here we are,” Anne Kirslis told Channel 2.
“Homicide, police everywhere and broken hearts everywhere,” she said, gesturing to the swarm of emergency vehicles with flashing lights that had taken over the parking lot.
Hours later, police responded to a shooting at a Douglasville shopping center coincidentally called Douglas Commons. In the parking lot of the shopping center, this one anchored by a Kroger, they found a man who had also been shot in his car, Douglasville police confirmed.
Investigators remained at the scene overnight gathering evidence around the man’s car, which showed damage from gunfire with several bullet holes in its sides, Channel 2 reported.
The Douglasville victim has not been identified and police have not released further details about the shooting.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
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