DeKalb Police Say Two Killed in Church Parking Lot Shot Each Other

At a 1 p.m. press conference, DeKalb police say that the after a funeral shot each other. 

"It was pandemonium," said Tyleis Speight, Event Coordinator for Victory for the World Church in a conversation with Stone Mountain Patch.  

Speight was in the building beside the sanctuary at the time of the shooting.

"People were trying to get from the sanctuary to our building," she added.  

DeKalb County police spokeswoman Mekka Parish said the victims were 19-year-old Carlos Henderson, Jr. of Ellenwood and 28-year-old Deimetrius Heard of Decatur.  

Henderson was a friend of Guider's.

Henderson got in a fight with a group of people outside of the church and started firing shots.  The names of the two others who were injured has not been released.  

The cause of the fight has also not been released.  

Police say there is no evidence that Marcus Ventress, the suspect in Guider's death, was in attendance at the funeral.  Witnesses originally placed him at the scene, but police have backed down on that claim. 

Police had staked out the church in case Ventress did show up. 

Police believe Guider, 19, was killed in retaliation for burglarizing Ventress' home, during which he allegedly punched Ventress' mother.

Pastor Samuel told Stone Mountain Patch that the service had just ended when the shooting started.

"The congregation and the clergy were filing out of the building into the cars, getting ready to head to the burial site," said Samuel, who performed the eulogy for Ryan Guider. 

Before people could even get to their cars, Samuel said the shots broke out.

He said people were running back into the church for cover, and someone called 911.

When DeKalb Police arrived on the scene, they locked down the campus and cordoned off the area, Samuel said.

"While I was doing the eulogy," Samuel said, "there were many young people at the funeral. I tried to tell the congregation about valuing life and their community, how fleeting and uncertain life is."

Apparently, Samuel said, some people were not listening.

"It's a tragedy we're facing here," he said, "but we'll keep preaching and trying to get that message across.” 

Police have not released the identities of the shooting victims.  One died at the scene will the other died on the way to the hospital.  

Guider's family were able to finish the funeral at 3 p.m., but most church members were unable to attend as they were still on lockdown at the church.