DeKalb County police say a man was shot to death in the middle of the day outside a busy Publix shopping center Wednesday.
The shooting happened at 2155 N. Decatur Road Wednesday afternoon. The address belongs to the Publix at the Emory Commons location.
Witnesses told Channel 2 Action News that the man was sitting in his car when he was shot and that it possibly stemmed from a road rage incident.
“This ain’t Beirut. This ain’t Baghdad,” Chuck Cochran said. “This is Decatur.”
Channel 2′s Tom Jones talked to shoppers, who said they were really shaken up by the shooting. Many said they don’t expect gun violence to happen in the area, and certainly not around noon.
Cochran said he saw all the police, but didn’t know what was going on.
“But the medical examiner’s truck is never a good sign,” Cochran said.
Ann Kirslis said she came to go grocery shopping.
“And here we are. Homicide,” Kirslis said. “Police everywhere and broken hearts everywhere.”
Many told Jones that there are just too many guns on the street in the hands of people intent on hurting others.
“I am just appalled,” Kirslis said. “This whole gun thing is out of control in this country. The answer is easy. There are too many guns, and it’s too easy to get them.”
Jones also talked to Geraldine Champion, a former homicide detective with Atlanta police who ran for sheriff in DeKalb County. She was shocked to find so many police cars at her favorite Publix.
Champion said people are stressed because of their financial situations and home lives, and that it’s too easy to get guns. She is not in favor of a new law that allows adults to carry a gun without a permit.
“That’s added fuel to the fire,” Champion said.
The victim’s identity has not been released. Police have not said if they have been able to identify the shooter.