A former U.S. Marine pulled out a pocket knife and fought back against five people, including a 17-year-old girl, who he said tried to rob him late Monday night in Midtown Atlanta.
The girl, identified as Amy Martin of Atlanta, died of her injuries. Another one of the assailants, 17-year-old Christopher Daniel, is in critical condition.
Investigators are calling the case one of self-defense. They say no charges will be filed against the victim in the case.
"One of the subjects had a shotgun, another had a pistol, yet a third had some brass knuckes," said Major Lane Hagin. Police say they have been interrogating the other three suspects who were identified as 17-year-old Kendall Barksdale, 17-year-old Christopher Hayes, and a 16-year-old.
Atlanta police say around 11 p.m., Thomas Autry -- a former U.S. Marine -- was walking home from his job as a server at Jock’s and Jill’s in Midtown. He says that when he got to 4th Street and Penn Avenue, four people jumped out of a Cadillac with guns.
Police say that two of the suspects were armed -- one with a handgun, the other with a shotgun.
Autry told police he kicked the guns out of their hands, and fought back with his own pocket knife, stabbing the girl when she jumped on him and another man who attacked him.
The suspects fled in their car but police found them later at Atlanta Medical Center where the girl was pronounced dead. The man stabbed in the incident was in critical condition, Stephens said.
The remaining suspects were taken into police custody.
“These are the individuals we have been looking for, for the past two nights,†said Atlanta police Detective Danny Stephens. “They’ve were riding around in this area. They were actually robbing people. There’s actually been a lookout for these individuals, and tonight, we caught up with them.â€
The older sister of one of the three people police have been talking to said she had been warning her brother about running with the wrong crowd.
“I’m really disturbed by this,†she said. “We’re always telling my brother that he needs to straighten up, and get it together and not run with the wrong crowd.â€
Autry's attackers will face robbery and aggravated assault charges and are suspected in other robberies over the past week, Stephens said.
Stephens credited Autry's military training with helping him fend off the group.
"I would say he had to do what he had to do to stop the threat," Stephens said. "You can tell his training kicked in and he knew what to do."
Autry, 36, suffered a cut to his hand and a bruise on his chest, Stephens said.
Former Marine Foils Armed Robbery
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