Atlanta police detectives think Monday’s shootout at a Texaco station that left one man dead is the result of an ongoing dispute between the victim and the triggerman, Maj. Keith Meadows told the AJC.
“That’s what we’re following right now,” Meadows said Tuesday afternoon.
Ladeddric Love, 19, died from his gunshot wounds after being shot in what a witness called an unprovoked attack at a Texaco in the 3000 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, police said.
Tedra Jordan, 19, who is pregnant with twins, was shot in the buttocks and calf, and a 2-year-old was shot in the foot, police said. Both were taken to a nearby hospital and were in stable condition Monday night, police said.
The couple’s 8-month-old child, also in the car, was not hurt in the shooting.
The witness, the fifth person in the car that was stopped to get gas around 1:20 p.m., said one of two men got out of a silver-colored car at the station, approached their car, pulled out an assault rifle and started shooting several times. He said the attack was unprovoked.
“He said nothing happened just prior to the shooting, that they were just sitting there, and the person came up and started shooting,” Meadows said.
“It appeared that he did spray the vehicle; there were a number of shell casings in the area,” Meadows said.
A security tape obtained by the AJC shows a silver Honda pulling into one of the gas pumps at the Texaco station. Three other cars, including that of the victims, also are at the station. One of the cars eventually drives away, leaving a green car and a white car – the victim’s – on the far right hand side of the security camera tape.
The tape shows the driver getting out of the silver Honda and then sitting back down behind the wheel again. Two passengers get out of the car – one from the front seat and one from the back.
The passenger who got out of the front seat walks over to the victim’s car and is then off camera. At this point, the silver Honda starts to drive away, the tape shows.
The other passenger then runs to the car and gets in the front seat – and the passenger who had walked off camera can be seen running back to the car and getting in the back seat.
The witness said Love drove to the nearby Adamsville Recreation Center, where the victims sought help and were taken to the hospital.
“That’s when he jumped out and started banging on the door, wanting help; that’s where he ultimately died,” Meadows said.
By Kristi E. Swartz
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
1:46 p.m. Tuesday, September 14, 2010
