A community is in shock after a Gwinnett County father was gunned down in his apartment on Sunday, and another man was injured while trying to escape the carnage.
In a story first reported by 11Alive, the shooting happened at the Rockbridge County apartments. Police don't know if there was more than one shooter.
Neighbors said they heard multiple gunshots – one neighbor estimates it was about 20 – from inside the apartment around 1:30 p.m. Some time later, the second victim jumped through a window to escape, and sustained minor cuts and scrapes. Police have not indicated that he is a suspect nor whether he is assisting in the investigation into what happened.
Neighbors said the victim, Joe Love, owned a pressure-washing business and had a young daughter. Many of the neighbors 11Alive's Ryan Kruger spoke to said Love was like a "brother."
"He was like a brother to me," said Shareef Shabazz, another neighbor. "We was real tight. I've known him for five years. Many a cook outs together, Super Bowl parties, things like that. My daughter and his daughter were very good friends, like sisters."
“He didn’t deserve none of this,” said neighbor William Donegan of the homicide victim. “He was a good guy. He took me in when I moved here.”
Neighbors also said Love used to feed people in the neighborhood often.
"Joe was a good guy," Donegan emphasized. "I hear so much about Gwinnett detectives, I hope they do their job and find the perpetrator who did this because he hurt a lot of people."
Police are still trying to work out a motive, though neighbors speculate it may have been robbery, due to the fact Love owned his own business and also had some type of recording equipment inside the apartment.
