Police said investigators were working Tuesday to identify a gunman who fled after an early morning confrontation inside the store.
ATLANTA, Ga. — A 17-year-old was shot and killed inside a southwest Atlanta gas station early Tuesday after what police described as a confrontation with another man, and detectives were still searching for the shooter hours later.
Atlanta police said officers were called to the BP station on Metropolitan Parkway at about 2:30 a.m. and found the teen inside the store with a gunshot wound to the chest. Despite emergency aid at the scene, he was pronounced dead there. By later Tuesday, the Fulton County Medical Examiner had identified the victim as Rashawn Mackey.
Lt. Christopher Butler said the initial investigation pointed to a single shooter and an encounter that may have started suddenly inside the business. Police said early evidence did not show a clear prior connection between Mackey and the gunman, though detectives were still trying to determine whether the two had crossed paths before the shooting. Butler said investigators believe the suspect became upset for reasons that were still unclear, and the confrontation quickly turned deadly.
“It appears just one shooter,” Butler said at the scene, adding that the suspect ran away on foot before officers arrived. Police released only a limited description Tuesday, saying the suspect was a Black male and had not been identified. No arrests had been announced by late morning, and no motive had been publicly established.
Detectives were collecting video from inside and around the gas station as they worked to trace the suspect’s movements before and after the shooting. Butler said the store was cooperating with investigators. Police also brought in the department’s homeland security unit to help gather additional footage from nearby cameras. K-9 teams tracked possible evidence to a nearby area, and that material was collected for forensic testing.
Authorities said no one else was injured. Butler described the case as isolated and said investigators did not believe it was connected to other recent shootings in Atlanta, even as he acknowledged the city had seen several violent incidents in recent days. The killing added to concerns around overnight violence at convenience stores and gas stations, places that remain active late into the night and often draw workers, customers and drivers moving through the city at off-hours.
Police initially said the victim had been working as a food delivery driver, but details about that work remained unsettled Tuesday as reporting continued to develop. What investigators said with certainty was that Mackey was inside the store when he was shot, that the gunfire followed a confrontation, and that detectives were relying heavily on video evidence and witness accounts to build the case.
The investigation remained active Tuesday, with police expected to continue reviewing surveillance footage and forensic evidence as they work to identify the gunman and clarify what led to the shooting.
Author note: Last updated April 14, 2026.