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Tribune News Service
Tribune News Service
National
Chelsea Prince and John Spink

Atlanta surpasses 2019 homicides after 2 overnight shootings

Atlanta police investigators processed the shooting scene at the Little Bear Food Mart at 1660 Jonesboro Rd in southeast Atlanta where a man was found shot to death. It was the second fatal shooting Atlanta Police were investigating in southeast Atlanta on Thursday morning. The killings bring the total number of homicides this year to 101, which is two more than the city recorded in all of 2019, according to the department. (John Spink/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS)

ATLANTA _ Atlanta police are investigating two shootings in southeast Atlanta on Thursday morning that left two men dead.

The killings bring the total number of homicides this year to 101, which is two more than the city recorded in all of 2019, according to the department.

The latest shooting took place early Thursday at the Little Bear Food Mart on Jonesboro Road. Authorities said 32-year-old Chiurazzi Bailey was shot in the chest after coming out of the business shortly before 5:30 a.m. He was dead when police arrived.

Investigators were on the scene of the latest shooting at the Little Bear Food Mart on Jonesboro Road. According to police, a man was shot after coming out of the business shortly before 5:30 a.m. He was dead when authorities arrived.

"The investigation revealed that the victim exited the business when an unknown suspect approached and shot the victim then went through the victim's pockets," Atlanta police spokesman Officer Steve Avery said. "The suspect fled in a black sedan."

No suspects are in custody, Capt. Jason Smith told AJC.com from the scene.

"We are reviewing all the evidence, which suggests this was not a random act," he said.

The two killings bring the total number of homicides this year to 101, which is two more than the city recorded in all of 2019, according to the department. (John Spink/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS)

It was the second fatal shooting police investigated in southeast Atlanta overnight, and the third for the city in as many days.

A man was found about 11 p.m. Wednesday with multiple gunshot wounds outside the Edgewood Court Apartments in the 1500 block of Hardee Street. A medical examiner pronounced him dead at the scene, and he has not been identified.

"Investigators are actively working to determine the circumstances around this incident," Avery said.

Investigators speak with onlookers gathered Thursday morning at the scene of a fatal shooting outside Little Bear Food Mart on Jonesboro Road. (John Spink/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS)

On Tuesday, 40-year-old William Montague became the 99th victim of a homicide in Atlanta this year. He was shot three times in his chest about 6:45 p.m. Monday at a convenience store across the street from the police department's headquarters on Peachtree Street.

Montague was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he died one day later.

A suspect has been arrested in that case. According to Avery, officers responding to the scene Monday night saw a man running away. He was detained, and the gun he was carrying was confiscated.

He was identified by police as Robert Louis Wilson, 22. Wilson was arrested on a charge of felony murder and taken to the Fulton County Jail.

A motive behind that deadly shooting was not released.

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