The Shell gas station where police say two groups got into a gun battle.
An innocent man was fatally shot during a gas station shootout, cops say. John Battle, 28, was struck while trying to drive away from the scene with his girlfriend, and one-year-old daughter in the car, according to authorities in local reports out of DeKalb County, Georgia. Police arrested a 14-year-old boy.
“A little boy killed my baby,” the man’s sister Kamylla Yancey told WXIA. “A little boy.”
Two groups got into a shootout Thursday around 6 p.m. at a Shell station at the intersection of Covington Highway and Wellborn Road, cops said in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution report. Battle had been driving away from the gas station when the dispute started, officers said.
He was struck by what cops described as a stray bullet. On being shot, the 28-year-old crashed into a nearby wood line. His girlfriend, and daughter were not badly hurt in the crash, officers said.
“Meanwhile, one of the men involved in the dispute was also shot and is in a local hospital with serious injuries,” DeKalb County police spokesperson Michaela Vincent said in as statement obtained by the AJC. “The other individuals involved fled the scene and have not been identified.”
That injured person was reportedly the 14-year-old boy.
It is unclear how many people argued outside the gas station. Battle and his family had nothing to do with this, she said.
The teenager, who police did not identify, was arrested Friday for felony murder and armed robbery.
Battle’s sister called on people to “stop playing with these guns. It’s not a game.”
“He didn’t deserve it,” she said of her brother. “He was a very loving man. He just had a kid at 27. He was living his life.”
The investigation is ongoing.
DeKalb County police ask that anyone with information call (770) 724-7850, according to the AJC. People can remain anonymous and can also get rewards of up to $2,000 by contacting Crime Stoppers Atlanta at (404) 577-8477, texting 274637 or going to the Crime Stoppers website.
[Screenshot via WXIA]