Auto Parts Store Shooting Victim Is Former Gwinnett Deputy

BUFORD, GA - Gwinnett County Police have identified the victim in a robbery at an auto parts store Wednesday night as one of their own.

Felix Cosme, 63, of Dacula, a retired segeant from the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office, attempted to draw his own gun, however, the robbery suspect fired, killing Cosme, according to police.

Cosme served as a sergeant at the department from April 2006 to November 2015.

Cosme and another employee were inside the O’Reilly Auto Parts at 2786 Hamilton Mill Road in Buford, when the robber demanded money, Gwinnett police said in a news release.

Investigators say Cosme and a female employee were working at the store when a man sitting in a vehicle came into the store after a customer left. Once inside, the suspect asked the worker to open the cash drawer.

Police say at that point Cosme walked out from the back of the store, saw the interaction between the co-worker and the robber, tried to pull his weapon and was fatally shot by the robber. Cosme died at the scene.

The original call came in at around 7:45 p.m. as a “person shot” call. Officers arrived to find a Cosme inside the store shot to death.

The man who fired the shots was last seen fleeing in his vehicle toward I-85. If you have any tips in this case, call ⁦@StopCrimeATL at 404-577-8477.