Boxer Vernon Forrest was gunned down in Atlanta Saturday night. Forrest had stopped at a gas station on Whitehall Street around 11 p.m. Saturday night to add air to a low tire on his Jaguar. With him was his 11 year old godson visiting from Texas. As the boy went inside to use the bathroom and buy snacks, Forrest went to the rear of his car to add air the tire. It was then when a male suspect robbed him at gunpoint and fled.
Forrest, reportedly armed, chased after the man a short distance, to an area near McDaniel and Fulton streets where shots were exchanged. As he gave up the chase and turned to return to the gas station, Forrest was shot seven to eight times in the back.
Police say the shooter and a second suspect left in a red Monte Carlo. Atlanta Police detectives interviewed several witnesses over the weekend about the events that led to Forrest?s death near a gas station around 11 p.m. Saturday, but have made no arrests.
About an hour later, a few blocks away, longtime Atlanta City councilman Ceasar Mitchell was carjacked. Shortly after midnight Saturday night, Mitchell was approached by three young men who pulled guns and demanded his green 2003 Ford Expedition.? Mitchell said one of the youths even fired his weapon into the air during the crime.
The councilman handed over the keys to his vehicle and the thieves quickly drove away into the night as Mitchell?s mother and other neighbors came out their homes on the 1000 block of Lena Street to find out what was going on. Police later found Mitchell?s vehicle nearby in another part of northwest Atlanta, near Joseph E. Boone and Joseph Lowery boulevards. No arrests had been made by Sunday afternoon.
Mitchell, who is currently running for Atlanta City Council President,? states, ?Hopefully, this is an opportunity for us to come together as a city to become more serious about public safety,? said Mitchell, who said his home was also burglarized in the past year. ?We cannot stand on the sidelines on this issue.?
There is no word on whether the two crimes were related.
