25-year-old clerk beaten to death with hammer in gas station attack, Georgia cops say
A store clerk was bludgeoned to death with a hammer inside an Atlanta-area gas station, Georgia police told news outlets.
Now, the man accused of attacking him faces a murder charge.
Officers got a call around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 16, about an assault at a Chevron gas station in Lithonia, according to DeKalb County police.
They arrived to find the suspect standing over the victim, 25, while holding a hammer, police said in an incident report obtained by McClatchy News.
Officers ordered the man to put down the weapon, and he complied before being arrested. During a search, police found three other weapons on him — including another hammer, according to the report.
The 25-year-old clerk died at the scene.
The incident report detailed the grisly scene, including a “substantial amount of blood spatter” on the floor of the convenience store. Investigators said another clerk who witnessed the attack hid in a back room and was so shaken he “could hardy speak.”
Officers obtained store surveillance video that showed the suspect, later identified as Julian Faulkner, repeatedly hitting the victim with a hammer, WSB-TV reported, citing police.
Authorities are still investigating a motive for the attack.
Faulkner remained in custody at the DeKalb County Jail as of Jan. 17, online records show.
Lithonia is about 20 miles east of downtown Atlanta.