LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — Gunfire rang out in the middle of a Lawrenceville gas station parking lot because police say one man didn’t like the way another man looked at him.
The clerk at the QT station on Buford Highway ducked as he heard the gunshot just after midnight on Memorial Day.
The gas station sits across the street from the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office.
Surveillance video shows two men getting into an argument over what police say was the way one man was looking at the other. The passenger of a Ford Explorer leaves the store and the driver of a Chevy Camaro sets down the juice he was waiting to buy and follows the other man outside.
After they push each other around in the parking lot, police say the driver of the Camaro grabs a rifle from his back seat, gets in a shooter’s stance and fires shots.
Video shows the muzzle of the gun flash as the passenger of the Explorer fires out of his window.
"People are willing to take human life over something that seems so minute that most people wouldn't even argue about,” said Detective Scott Pendergrass.
Children caught in the crossfire hid between nearby pumps waiting for an adult to come back out of the store.
"There's two children in the backseat of her car, and that's the direct path of where the bullets are being fired,” Pendergrass said.
The Explorer drove off toward Hwy. 316 as the shooter in the parking lot put the gun back into the Camaro and walked into the store.
In the video, the gunman can be heard apologizing to the clerk and asking him if he is alright. He then pays for his juice and walks out.
Police are searching for all four men involved in the shootout.
"If they have the mentality to pull out guns in the parking lot, what happens when they're at a party and there's people everywhere” Pendergrass said. “Things like this have to be stopped. It's completely unacceptable and public safety is our number one concern.”
If you have any information contact Detective Scott Pendergrass at 770-670-5136 or spendergrass@lawrencevillepd.com
Cox Media Group
