From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution of January 15, 2009
A robbery suspect was shot and killed by his intended victim outside an East Atlanta Village bar on January 14, Atlanta police said.
The suspected robber, a 29-year-old man from the Decatur area, carried a Colt .40-caliber handgun, Atlanta police Detective Michael Willis said.
Willis said he could not release the identity of the dead man because he had not yet notified relatives of his death.
The detective also declined to name the man and woman police said were the intended robbery victims. The man who opened fire in self defense is a 28-year-old who works in the airline industry and lives in a northern suburb of Atlanta, possibly Cobb County, Willis said.
On January 14, the couple made their way to the popular East Atlanta Village, known for its trendy bars and eateries, because they have been taking swing-dancing lessons, Willis said.
When they left the bar around 11:15 p.m., the man gave his date the keys to his Ford Ranger pickup truck so she could drive. They walked to the truck, parked in an Ace Hardware lot across a side street on the same side of Glenwood Avenue.
Inside the vehicle, the woman was adjusting the driver’s seat and mirrors when the man looked over his shoulder and saw a man standing at his passenger window, Willis said.
Believing the man was going to beg for money, the passenger rolled down his window a few inches, Willis said. But he had a strange feeling about the man, so he grabbed his gun from the glove box and put it on his lap, Willis said.
He asked the stranger what he wanted, and noticed the man was reaching for his waistband or pockets, the detective said. Instinctively, the passenger shoved open his door, knocking the suspected robber back a few feet, Willis said. The woman started screaming.
The man got out of the truck and the suspected robber raised a weapon at him, Willis said. “When he saw that, he just started shooting,” the detective said.
The man shot the suspected robber five or six times, in the stomach and chest, Willis said. The robber did not fire any shots.
“He just got the jump on him,” Willis said of the victim. “He told me he fired until the guy was no longer a threat to him.”
Read the entire story here.
