Man killed on Lawton Avenue near Central High marks fourth Macon shooting in five days

UPDATE – The man killed in the Lawton Avenue shooting Tuesday was identified as Christopher Dewayne Curry Jr., according to a statement from the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office. His next of kin were notified.

ORIGINAL – A Macon man died in a shooting early Tuesday morning on Lawton Avenue near Central High School, the fourth shooting in the past few days that left two dead and four injured, according to the Bibb County Sheriff’s office.

The man was shot around 1:45 a.m. Tuesday on the 3500 block of Lawton Avenue, the sheriff’s office said. He was pronounced dead by Bibb deputy coroner Lonnie Miley.

The shooting just a block away from the Holt Avenue side of Central High School in Macon comes after three other shootings over the holiday weekend that left one more dead and two others injured.

Eric Payton Thomas Jr., 21, died from gunshot wounds in his car Friday on Montpelier Avenue, the sheriff’s office said. Police found him after someone called 911 at about 8 p.m. that night.

Another shooting happened at about 10:30 p.m. Sunday night at a Chevron on Eisenhower Parkway just west of Interstate 75, according to the sheriff’s office. Emergency responders took one man who was shot in the leg to a local hospital where he was later listed in stable condition.

The third shooting of the weekend came in downtown Macon at about 12:30 a.m. Monday in front of the Hummingbird Stage and Taproom on Cherry Street, the sheriff’s office said. Two people got into a fight and eventually shot at each other, the statement said. A bystander was shot in the leg.

The man was taken to a local hospital and listed in stable condition, according to the sheriff’s office. Both shooters fled the scene before police arrived.

All the shootings remained under investigation. The two weekend deaths mark the 24th and 25th homicides of the year in Bibb County, according to Telegraph reports.

This story was originally published June 20, 2023 at 9:46 AM.