Man repossessing car ‘very blessed’ to be alive after being chased, shot by another driver

ATLANTA — Atlanta police are searching for a shooter who fired on a man who was in the middle of repossessing a car.

Channel 2′s Michael Seiden spoke with a neighbor Wednesday who described how she and her husband jumped in to help the victim who was just trying to do his job.

Lyn Harrell said the victim is lucky to be alive because police say he was getting chased by another driver who opened fire on him, forcing him to crash into a utility pole.

It happened in the middle of the night.

The crash sent him flying through the air and he landed on a neighbor’s driveway.

“He is very blessed that he did not die,” Harrell said. “It was just something unnerving because it woke me up from a sound sleep.”

The loud commotion sent Harrell and her husband racing toward their front window.

“And I just jumped up and looked out of the window and I saw a fire. the tree was on fire I guess because I guess the telephone pole was split,” Harrell said.

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Harrell shared a photo with Seiden showing flames shooting into the sky from the crash which threatened multiple homes along Perkerson Road in Southwest Atlanta.

“My initial reaction was to run over to the neighbors and let them know about the potential fire,” Harrell said.

But as soon as they got outside, they found a wrecked car at the end of their driveway.

“The young man had already crawled out and he was just asking for help,” Harrell said. “So my husband was on the phone with 911 and all of the neighbors began to come out.”

The driver had a gunshot wound but was alert and conscious.

“We later learned that he was just doing his job to repo a car and I guess he was attacked,” Harrell said.

Police say moments before the fiery crash, the victim was attempting to repossess a car when someone started chasing him.

He tried to get away and that’s when authorities say someone in a white car began shooting.

The bullets hit the victim in his back, forcing him to crash into a telephone pole before flipping through the air and landing just feet from a neighbor’s front door.

“I thank God that everyone is safe. It could’ve been worse, but I’m glad he was able to be cared for,” Harrell said.

Police say the shooter was last seen driving a white car. A police spokesperson also told Seiden that they are still trying to figure out if the shooter was the owner of the car that was repossessed.

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