CLARKE COUNTY, Ga. — The search is on for a gunman who police say robbed a man at gunpoint and then shot another a few minutes later. The victims are both University of Georgia students.
Athens-Clarke County police said they were called to the shooting at a bus stop on South Milledge Avenue near the 10 Loop just after 7:15 a.m. Monday.
When police arrived, they found the 22-year-old victim identified as Tate Prezzano on the ground. They said he'd been shot multiple times and was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
#Breaking Friends and teammates confirm that UGA lacrosse player Tate Prezzano is the student shot in a robbery attempt this morning. They say he's in stable but critical condition. More at 5. pic.twitter.com/IITxW3OsO4
— Richard Elliot (@RElliotWSB) April 22, 2019
Friends of Prezzano say he's from Alpharetta and is a member of the UGA lacrosse team.
Not long before that shooting, police say the same man robbed another student at a nearby apartment complex.
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Chief Cleveland Spruill thinks the gunman didn’t get enough from his first robbery, so he tried to rob Prezzano around the corner.
"So if that individual was looking for money or things of value, he doesn’t look like he got it out of the first incident, and maybe he goes on to a second to try and do that," Spruill said.
Channel 2 Action News obtained an email to students, faculty and staff sent Monday morning about the armed robberies.
"We are deeply saddened by these tragic and shocking events," the email said, in part.
Police are searching for a black male with dreads or twists driving an early 2000 model, white Ford Mustang convertible with a tan roof.
#breaking This is a sketch of the man wanted for robbing two UGA students, shooting one of them. More at 4. pic.twitter.com/wXhAJr30cN
— Richard Elliot (@RElliotWSB) April 22, 2019
Zac Hendrix lives barely five yards from where the shooting happened. He heard the whole thing.
"So I was just lying in bed. I heard, 'Pow! Pow!' and I was, like, 'Whoa.' So then I woke up immediately, ran outside and I looked on the ground, and there was a picture I never want to see again," Hendrix said.
Justin Bray grew up in Athens and lives down the street from where the shooting happened. He said he never expected to see something like this in his neighborhood.
"It's always been a very safe part of town. I mean, Athens is always safe. I was born and raised here, and I’ve never felt unsafe here," Bray said.
Anyone with information about the shooter’s whereabouts is asked to call the Athens-Clarke County Police Department at 706-613-3330.
Cox Media Group
