Three masked teenage boys, one 15-year-old and two 16-year-olds, were shot and killed during an alleged armed robbery attempt in Conyers, Georgia, on Sept. 16, according to police.
The video footage published by DailyMail shows a tree outside the house of the homeowner with a sign that says “No Trespassing, Violators May Be Shot.”
A neighbor of the man who shot the boys that trespassed his property, Chico Chapman, said in an interview with DailyMail that the homeowner was “rarely at home” and was a friendly neighbor.
Chapman said in the interview that he awoke at 4 a.m. after hearing a few pops, that he thought at that moment could have been leftover fireworks, “I made my way to make sure that my house was secure and kinda made my way out of the door” he said, “and at that point I saw some commotion across the street, and I saw a gentleman, a young man in a pool of blood in the driveway, and I could tell he was pretty much lifeless at that point.”
“My neighbor, he was ready, you know, he was ready for something you never wanna be actually engaged in, you hope that you never have to do that and unfortunately he had to do it,” said Chapman. “He’s quiet, he’s always working, he’s rarely at home, he drives trucks.”
“My son … plays with his nephews,” he said. “He’s a friendly guy, always waves, he’s a neighbor he’s a good neighbor.”
“He did what he had to do to protect his family,” added Chapman.
He thinks that no one in the community blames him and they are all in a somber place hurting for the death of the children.
“We hurt for him and we hurt for the families of the children who were lost,” he said.
Police said, according to CNN, that one of the trespassing teenagers used a handgun to open fire at the residents and then one of them started shooting back.
“The victims of the attempted robbery were all uninjured, but the three attempted robbery suspects were all shot during the exchange of gunfire and succumbed to their injuries, one on scene and two at a local hospital after being transported,” said the sheriff’s department.
“I heard a guy yelling for help. ‘Help me, help me, I’m dying, I’m dying, help me, help me,'” said Brian Jenkins, a neighbor.
Another neighbor, Carlos Watson, said that he heard gunshots and ran out to help, “It was five shots and then it sounded like a handgun. Then I heard somebody have an assault rifle. And it was a slew of shots that came out,”
