FAYETTEVILLE, GA – A fatal shooting at a Georgia Walmart store left one man dead and a 9-year-old girl hospitalized with injuries. Police identified the deceased man as 19-year-old Antavius Holton. The little girl’s condition has not yet been publicly released.
Adrian Jelks, also 19, has been identified as the suspected shooter and is wanted for murder and aggravated assault. Jelks fled the scene in a car later found abandoned. Police arrested 19-year-old Sandra Romero-Nunez as an alleged accomplice.
Fayetteville Police Chief Gray does not believe the shooting was random, indicating Holton and Jelks may have known each other. Chief Gray said the child was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Gray stated that the shooting was an isolated incident and a highly unusual occurrence in the area.
Walmart also issued a statement about the fatal shooting. The retail company offered condolences to the victims and pledged cooperation with the investigation.
Shoppers expressed shock and dismay, describing a normally peaceful community rattled by violence. A woman who reported witnessing the aftermath of the shooting shared that she initially thought it was an arrest for theft. However, she was left devastated after seeing the injured victim on the ground.