Family's Yorkie stolen during violent carjacking, victim says

ATLANTA — As a man recovers from a terrifying ambush he said involved three men shooting at him, his family remains hopeful their stolen Yorkie will be found and returned safely.

Edwin Shelton told Channel 2's Mark Winne he was approached in a parking lot on Baker Street in downtown Atlanta, just a few blocks from the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola.

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“When I stuck my key in the door they said, 'Give it up,' and next thing I know I heard a gunshot. “(I was) shot in the neck,” said Shelton.

“I heard three gunshots,” Shelton's wife, Cynthia, told Winne.

Edwin Shelton said a bullet creased the back of his neck from close range.

“Maybe another inch or two over, I’d been paralyzed, or even dead,” Edwin Shelton said.

Shelton told Winne that as a mortician, he knows how close he came to paralysis or death. Shelton said in his years in the funeral home business, he's seen some senseless tragedies, but Saturday, he came close to being one.

“I knew we were just blessed that God had really spared his life at that moment,” said Edwin Shelton's wife, Cynthia Shelton.

Cynthia Shelton said she and her husband had just left a reception at a law firm when she stopped at the top of a parking lot near Peachtree and Baker streets to talk to friends.

“Edwin says, ‘Well, I'll just go and get the truck,’” Cynthia Shelton said.

Then she said she heard gunshots and someone else was at the wheel as their black Chevrolet Suburban careened on to the street, hitting another car on the way.

“I dialed 911,” Edwin Shelton said.

Atlanta police Sgt. Warren Pickard said Atlanta police are looking for three young men, possibly juveniles.

“It’s very alarming when we have juveniles out on the street who commit crime after crime after crime,” Pickard said.

Atlanta police said there's been at least one other carjacking downtown, but no gunshots prior to this incident.

“We've increased patrols in the area. We have officers volunteering to work these areas because there is an overtime incentive,” Pickard said.

Edwin Shelton said police recovered the Suburban near Avon and Allene avenues in southeast Atlanta.

The Sheltons said their biggest hurt isn't the car but the fact that their beloved Yorkie, "Lexi," was in the SUV.

“My husband and I are offering a $2,000 reward for the safe return,” said Cynthia Shelton told Winne. “I’m very blessed that my husband is here next to me.”

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A viewer contacted Winne after we aired this story on Channel 2 Action News and offered to help. They donated space on a billboard to share the dog's photo in hopes of finding her and bringing her home safely.

Meanwhile, Edwin Shelton said he is blessed to be alive.

“God just … I feel like he spared my life as well," he said.

Pickard said a gun was also stolen with the SUV. He said police were organizing a canvass of the area where the Suburban was found to search for Lexi, whose location could be important to solving the crime.

Anyone with information is asked to call Atlanta police or Crimestoppers.

Cox Media Group