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Instagram beef between businesses escalates into shooting

An off-duty officer pursued the fleeing suspect who allegedly opened fire on him, police said.

ATLANTA - A suspect is in custody after police say he shot one man in Little 5 Points and then fired at a pursuing Atlanta officer, all because of a beef that started on Instagram.

According to Atlanta police spokesperson Stephanie Brown, the shooting happened at 9:36 p.m. on Thursday in the 1100 block of Euclid Avenue following some sort of dispute between two men.

The dispute was allegedly between two rival tattoo parlors in the area.

The businesses had originally began smack-talking on Instagram that later escalated into the physical altercation and then ended in a shooting.

An off-duty Atlanta police sergeant was in the area working an extra job when he noticed the fight and then saw one of the men, 38-year-old Keith Wood, shoot the other.

The officer began to chase Wood through an alleyway and was allegedly fired upon but not hit. The suspect was caught a short time later behind the Wrecking Bar and police were also able to locate a gun.

The shooting victim was taken to Atlanta Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the thigh. He was "alert, conscious and breathing" at the time he was moved from the scene according to Officer Brown.

Kahle Davis, President of the Little 5 Points Business Association says this isn't the first time this has happened,

"This is the second time in a week that we had a personal beef, become a breach of peace and it's a problem and I'm not a big fan of that sort of thing. It wasn't an armed robbery or anything, it was just a couple of guys that had a beef."

“We have had, evidently, a total of 4 knuckleheads who decided to have some sort of beef and start shooting about it. I’m not a big fan. I have been hanging out here since 1991, I haven’t been shot yet. I have been hanging out here for a very long time, this is a safe neighborhood. In fact, the crime stats will show you that this is safer than Sandy Springs. But, when two people have a personal beef, it’s going to get on the news.”

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