Gunshot victim dies after being pushed out of car on downtown connector

ATLANTA — Police are looking for whoever was behind a deadly shooting that forced investigators to shut down part of the downtown connector Friday.

Investigators say the gunman shot Homer Thirkield, 19, along Sylvan Road in southwest Atlanta.

Thirkield was then put in a car before the driver flagged down an ambulance along the downtown connector near Fulton Street.

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A witness told Channel 2’s Tyisha Fernandes that he saw the shooting and was terrified by what he was seeing.

That witness, who asked not to be identified, told Fernandes there were about 10 shots and he hit the ground trying not to get shot.

“The shooter had a big handgun so they were loud shots,” the witness said.

The shooting happened around 3 p.m. Friday.

“I was actually sitting outside the barbershop and heard the gunshots,” the witness said.

Right before the shots, the witness said he saw Thirkield walk out of a house and then someone opened fire.

“He shot towards the house about 10 times,” the witness told Fernandes.

Police gathered evidence from the house and told Channel 2 Action News that people in two cars were shooting at each other right out front.

“The individuals in the two cars had been arguing with each other prior to gunshots being fired,” said Maj. Adam Lee III with the Atlanta Police Department.

After Thirkield was shot in the chest, the witness said someone put him in a black car.

“He dragged him and lifted him and put him in the car,” the witness said.

Police believe that person tried to take him to Grady Memorial Hospital, but they never made it.

Investigators said the driver stopped on the downtown connector near the Interstate 20 exit, and flagged down an ambulance instead.

“After they flagged the ambulance down, the subjects in the black vehicle took off,” Lee said.

And now police are looking for the people in that black car for an explanation.

“It was extremely scary,” the witness said. “You don't know where the bullets are flying, so anyone can get hurt.”

Fernandes spoke to three other neighbors who didn't want to go on camera. They said the violence is getting out of hand in the neighborhood.

They told her they are just happy that no one else got shot during the shootout Friday.

Cox Media Group