Local

62-year-old man killed in drive-by shooting

ATLANTA — Police released new video showing a clue in the murder of a 62-year-old man. The shooting happened early Wednesday morning at the JVC Grocery Store on McDaniel Street in Atlanta. Police believe the disabled man, Obie Phillips, was the unintended victim of a fatal drive-by shooting. Employees at the store told Channel 2's Sophia Choi, Phillips went there all the time to buy lottery tickets and snacks. Witnesses say shots came from a blue car. In the video police released, they believe that the car seen in the video is related to the shooting. Relatives of the man say the man's death is just the latest in a string of violent crimes outside the neighborhood grocery. Neighbors say the neighborhood is like a war zone. "There's always shootings around here, everyday it seems like sometimes," Larry Pullins said. An employee of the store didn't want his identify revealed, but told Choi that violence in the area is nothing new, saying, "You could see a lot of shootings down here ma'am; a lot of shootings." "He couldn't hardly walk from the gout. His knees used to swell up real bad," the man's niece, Collette Phillips said. Family members of Phillips said he walked with a cane and couldn't run from the gunshots when a blue car drove by and someone fired out of the passenger window. "He always made us laugh, even if he was sad, he made you laugh," Collette Phillips said. "And I know everybody around here will miss him too cause he always had a smile on his face." Collette Phillips said she begged her uncle to move, worried something like this would happen. The victim's sister, Patsy Brown, said her brother kept to himself and was dealing with an illness. Brown said her brother had finally agreed to move out of the area shortly before he was killed. Investigators are working to establish a motive.

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