Robber In Clown Mask Shoots Man At Waffle House

ATLANTA, GA — An armed robber wearing a clown mask shot a man in the neck at a midtown Atlanta Waffle House early Tuesday morning, according to police.

Atlanta Police Department officers were called at 6:10 a.m. to the restaurant at 1099 Northside Dr. There, they found a man who had suffered a gunshot wound to the neck. The victim was alert and able to talk with officers, and was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in stable condition.

Investigators learned that a man wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and tan pants had come into the Waffle House and gone into the restroom. He came out wearing the clown mask, pulled a handgun and demanded personal property from employees and customers at the restaurant.

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He was able to get car keys from one victim, then grabbed the register from the counter and left the restaurant. As he got into a white Mercury Grand Marquis that belonged to the key-theft victim, another customer went to a restaurant window to watch him leave.

That's when the masked man shot at him, the bullet breaking through the Waffle House's window and hitting him in the neck. The robber then left in the stolen car, which was later found by police in the area of 9th and Curran streets.

Police said they were continuing to investigate the robbery late Tuesday morning.

Patch file photo by Renee Schiavone