LAGRANGE, Ga. — LaGrange Police are looking for multiple suspects after a shooting on Saturday, Feb. 4 outside several businesses in the city.
Police said just before 8 p.m. their 911 center received calls for multiple shots fired outside the Neighborhood Grocery Store on Whitesville Road. Responding officers were flagged down nearby where they found 15-year-old Quendarrious Woodyard. Police said he had at least one gunshot wound in his back.
He was rushed by ambulance to a local hospital before being flown to Grady in Atlanta, where he died on Tuesday afternoon. The Troup County coroner said her office was notified just before 1 p.m. that Woodyard died from his injuries. She said his body would be sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for an autopsy to assist in the homicide investigation.
On Tuesday, 11Alive interviewed Lieutenant Mark Lavender, who is in the Criminal Investigations Division of the LaGrange Police Department.
"'We don't know if he (Woodyard) was the intended target or if he was a bystander or if he was actually participating in anything at the time that this occurred," Lt. Lavender explained.
Lt. Lavender added there were two different groups in the parking lot at the time of the shooting.
"They were anywhere in the ranges, the ages of 12 to 18 or 19 years old," Lt. Lavender said.
The lieutenant said the Neighborhood Grocery Store is a spot where people hang out in the city. It's on a busy stretch of Whitesville Road. He said due to the number of shots fired in the parking lot, those driving by at the time were lucky they weren't shot.
Unfortunately, Woodyard was hit and became the city's third homicide victim since the first of the year.
"It's going to affect the community, his family, the school and even those that didn't know him just based on the age. We're talking a 15-year-old kid that's now dead because of senseless violence," Lt. Woodyard explained. "My main message is, is accountability. And especially for parents with kids, knowing where your kids are, knowing who your kids are hanging out with, who their friends are, knowing if your kids have guns."
If you have any information on this homicide call Troup County CrimeStoppers at (706) 812-1000.