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Victim met shooting suspect in bad Craigslist deal at south Forsyth Kroger parking lot 3 times
Suspect and man who remained in car still at large
Shooting
A man who was shot in front of a south Forsyth Kroger Friday, Sept. 30 after a Craigslist deal went wrong reportedly told deputies he was selling tools to a man he had met three times previously. - photo by Cheri Bullard

SOUTH FORSYTH – Two people, one of whom is suspected of shooting a man in a grocery store parking lot Friday night, remain at large after a Craigslist transaction went sour.

The victim, a 57-year-old male from Cumming, called deputies from outside the Kroger on Peachtree Parkway just after 11 p.m. Sept. 30 saying he had been shot, according to a Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office incident report.

When deputies arrived on scene, they found the victim sitting in the driver’s seat of his GMC Sierra truck covered in blood and began providing first aid, the report said.

Conscious at the time, the man reportedly told deputies he was selling tools to a man he had met three times previously.

The shooting suspect, described as a white male in his late 20s or early 30s, was driving a Honda Civic hatchback, the report said.

A black male similar in age reportedly remained in the vehicle while the shooter jumped into the victim’s truck and allegedly tried to rob him.

The victim told deputies he drove his truck across the Kroger parking lot with the suspect in the vehicle, who shot him in the right side of his ribcage, according to the report.

The suspect then reportedly jumped out of the truck, and the victim drove to the front of the Kroger to call for help.

The man was transported to North Fulton Hospital, where he had surgery and is expected to survive, said Deputy Epifanio Rodriguez, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office.

Rodriguez said the community is not in danger and that it is rare for violent stranger-to-stranger crime to occur in Forsyth County.

Though it may not be common, he cautioned residents to be wary of where they conduct online sales.

“If you’re going to engage in a Craigslist sale, we encourage you to do it at a [police] precinct, a well-lit area or a place [where] there’s lot of people,” he said. “Any [such] transaction can be conducted in the parking lot of a law enforcement precinct.”

Anyone with information regarding the suspect or his alleged partner is asked to contact the sheriff’s office at (770) 886-2800.