Gunmen in custody after lunchtime shootout near convenience store

A bullet tore a 2-inch hole in the door of a Sierra pickup in a shooting around lunchtime Saturday in south Macon.

Just after 12:10 p.m., Bibb sheriff’s deputies got a call about shots fired near the Food Mart at 4315 Houston Avenue, just a few blocks from Rocky Creek Road.

A gunman standing in the parking lot of the store near Chatham Street was exchanging fire with the driver of a white Chevrlolet Tahoe on Houston Avenue.

At least three bullet casings were in the street near Chatham, which was blocked off by patrol cars.

Deputies believe the Tahoe driver was firing something like an AK-47 and hit the door of the 2015 pickup parked in front of the store.

Its owner, who just recently bought the vehicle, was inside talking to store clerks when they heard the gunfire.

Another shot from the Tahoe ricocheted up into the overhang at the convenience store entrance, but no one was wounded.

Deputies handcuffed the gunman in the parking lot as other officers started chasing the SUV.

Men who were sitting outside Veal’s Tire Service said they heard several shots as the Tahoe went down Green Street and over to Pinson Street.

Officers, including a Georgia State Patrol trooper pursued the Tahoe.

The chase led to Buena Vista Avenue where the driver stopped the vehicle in the back yard of a house in the 1200 block of Rocky Creek Road.

He was taken into custody.

A woman living in a nearby duplex thought the sirens she heard was the movie she was watching on DVD.

“There were sirens on the movie, too,” she said as she sat on the stoop watching as a deputy was talking to witnesses.

Deputies detained both alleged gunmen, but their names and charges were not immediately released.

Come back to macon.com for updates.

This story was originally published November 11, 2017 at 2:54 PM with the headline "Gunmen in custody after lunchtime shootout near convenience store."