White Man Shot, Family Flees Home as Blacks Force Their Way in, Guns Blazing

11 Alive
August 22, 2015

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Michael Lash was shot in the leg when armed Blacks forced their way into his home to rob it.

According to Atlanta Police, Lash, his wife Whitney, their 2-year-old son and infant daughter had just returned to their home on Sumter Street from a vacation when four men knocked on their front door.

“They pretended as if their vehicle had broken down and they were requesting a car jack of some sort from our victim at which point they brandished a weapon,” said Ofc. Ralph Woolfolk. The men asked Lash to borrow a car jack and then tried to force their way inside.

As Lash tried to close the door, the men shot him and entered the house. Lash was shot twice in the leg, one of the shots shattered his femur, according to relatives.

The couple’s 2-year-old son was sleeping in an upstairs bedroom. Lash’s wife grabbed their infant daughter and ran to the back of the house. Police said the suspects fired twice at her and the baby, but missed. She then managed to run to a neighbor’s home.

Police said the four suspects fled and are still being sought.

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Four of these are being sought for the crime.

A neighbor who didn’t want to be identified said it happened while he and his wife were out for a walk on Sumter Street. “I heard the three pops,” he said. “Sounded like gun shots.”

“It makes you think a little bit, but it also heightens the awareness that it could happen to anybody,” the neighbor said.

Many residents on Sumter Street told 11Alive News they are not used to this type of crime, let alone any crime in their neighborhood. “I even left my door unlocked a couple nights and didn’t really have to worry about anything,” said Will Crossman.

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