Man shoots, kills 2 people in liquor store over unpaid bill

ATLANTA — A suburban Atlanta man killed two people in a liquor store over the weekend and then shot and injured his parents before he was shot dead by police, authorities said on Monday.

Jeffrey Pitts, 36, opened fire with a handgun in a liquor store on Sunday, killing a clerk and a customer, following a dispute with the clerk over an unpaid bill, Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Michael Camp said.

Pitts then returned home and shot his parents with an assault rifle, Camp said. After Pitts’ mother called police, sheriff’s deputies arrived to find Pitts standing near a garage with his rifle.

When Pitts started shooting at deputies, they returned fire and killed him, Camp said.

Pitts’ parents are in stable condition and are expected to survive, the spokesman said.

A few days earlier, Pitts had walked out of a liquor store in Conyers, Georgia, without paying, Camp said. When he returned to the store on Sunday, the clerk told Pitts he was going to hold his identification card until he paid for the item taken earlier, said Camp.

Pitts came back a few hours later, pulled out a pistol and began firing, the spokesman said.