FBI Offering $15K Reward To Find Killer Of Former Gwinnett Deputy

BUFORD, GA - The FBI is offering a reward of $15,000 for information leading to the arrest of the suspect involved in the shooting death of a former deputy at a Buford auto parts store last week. That is in addition to a local reward.

Felix Cosme, 63, of Dacula, a retired segeant from the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office, was shot to death as he attempted to draw his gun to stop a man trying to rob the O'Reilly Auto Parts store at 2786 Hamilton Mill Road in Buford. However, the robbery suspect fired first.

Cosme's funeral will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday at Crowell Brothers Funeral Homes & Crematory's Buford chapel - 201 Morningside Dr NE, Buford.

Investigators say Cosme and a female employee were working at the store when a man sitting in a vehicle came inside 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. He served as a sergeant at the department from April 2006 to November 2015.

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 or (770) 216-3000.