Gwinnett County

Man killed after shooter opened fire through townhouse front door, police say

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Gwinnett County police are searching for a gunman they say shot a man through the front door of his home, killing him.

Channel 2 Gwinnett County bureau reporter Tony Thomas spent most of the day Friday at the scene along Patterson Circle, watching investigators as they mapped out where the bullets went and spoke to witnesses to the shooting.

“I stand here brokenhearted, and all I can think of is retaliation,” said Gary Moss, who said he rushed to the scene when he heard his friend and co-worker, Eddie Waters, had been shot. “Police might be doing their job, but this is the ghetto. We don't play like that out here. If you are going to take one of ours, we going to take two of yours.”

Police said they have no clear motive why someone came to the townhouse before sunrise and pumped several bullets through the locked front door.

“I woke up and I heard gunshots. I jumped out of my bed and rolled underneath the bed,” neighbor Renee Hamlet told Thomas.

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“Then, like three seconds later, a car went by so fast,” neighbor Krystyna Havrylesku said.

Police told Thomas that they had to break down the door to get into the townhome. That’s when they found Waters lying in the entryway, dead.

Thomas watched investigators Friday afternoon first map the area with a 3D camera and then collect several shell casings just outside the doorway.

“Who the murderer is? You are a punk. You shoot him through the door, you can't even shoot him like a man. Kill him like a man. He deserved to die better than that,” Moss said.

Moss said Waters had two adult children and a grandchild. Neighbors told Thomas that Waters had lived in the area for several years.

“Always speaking, always laughing,” Hamlet said is how she remembers Waters.

“What happened is jealousy. It's us killing us. The man was eating and somebody's plate was a little empty, and they was hungry,” Moss said.

Investigators spent part of the day looking for any surveillance video from the area. They are hoping to get a break and catch a glimpse of any fleeing vehicle.

Cox Media Group

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