DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Dekalb County police say a 62-year-old man has been arrested after he shot and killed a gas station clerk in DeKalb County Tuesday.
Dekalb County police said that just before 4:30 a.m. Tuesday a worker at the Valero gas station on Candler Road off of I-20 east got into an argument with a customer.
That customer, identified by police as Jurrell Bethel, then shot the worker.
The victim has been identified as Ronald Tyrone Hodge, of Decatur. Police said Hodge was shot in the face.
Bethel has been charged with malice murder. Police said he didn’t reveal his motivation.
Channel 2′s Audrey Washington spoke to a friend of the victim, who said he is heartbroken.
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Freddie Searcy works at the same gas station. He had to fight back tears as he talked about the moments leading up to the deadly shooting.
“He was laughing and having fun,” Searcy said.
He said one minute his friend was talking and smiling with him and the next he was dead.
“Kind of messed me up, you know?” Searcy said.
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People at the gas station told Washington that the argument argument did not last long.
Next, they saw the victim on the ground and the suspect was gone.
“I just rode past and heard pow and looked to the right and I saw everyone pulling out,” one witness said.
Customer Nicole Carbo said the shooting was senseless.
“It’s getting ridiculous. Like, you’re arguing and then you’re going to kill somebody,” she said.
It appears the victim and the suspect did not know each other.
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