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Bowling alley employees chase out gunman after robbery, police say

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Authorities said a gunman was chased out of a metro Atlanta bowling alley by employees just moments after robbing them.

Channel 2's Tyisha Fernandes learned the suspect fired shots as he ran out of the location in Loganville and left his lime green-colored car in the parking lot. That led police to identify him as Willie James Rivers.

Police said they were already looking for Rivers, because one week ago, he robbed a Homestay Suites on Stone Mountain Highway in Loganville.

The victim didn’t want to show his face on camera but told Fernandes what happened.

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"He walked in. He pointed a gun at me and asked me to give him the money. I give him the money and he left," the man said.

The clerk said he recognized the suspect right away because he had stayed at the motel several times over the past year.

He said the suspect had just told him that he lost his job and was down on his luck. But he didn’t think Rivers, whom he once called a friend, would rob him at gunpoint.

"At first, I was not expecting that somebody is gonna come and rob me the way that he did. I was thinking, maybe, that somebody was joking. He pointed the gun at me and then he wasn’t saying anything, wasn’t even talking," the victim said.

Police are hoping someone can tell them where Rivers is.

Police impounded his car, but they're not sure if he's driving another car.