Shooting Near Schools; Victim Killed

There's an active manhunt in DeKalb County for the gunman who shot and killed a father just after he dropped his children off at school Friday morning.

Police said they have identified victim of the shooting as Francisco Martinez.

Crossing guard Sharron Hinton said Martinez had just walked his children to school and returned to his driveway at about 8 a.m. Hinton said she then heard three gunshots.

Hinton said, "Once I got the kids out of the way, I stopped and said, 'That sounds like gunfire.'"

"At this particular time, our detectives are looking into whether it was random or not," said DeKalb County Police Department's Mekka Parish. "During our preliminary investigation, detectives do believe that robbery was the motive for the shooting."

Investigators are trying to figure out why it happened in such a crowded area.

Neighbor Sundy Visbal said, "I panicked. I freaked out. I got inside the house and locked the door."

Visbal said she heard the shot just minutes after she sent her children walking past the house where it happened to go to school.

"What if they were hit by a stray bullet? That was my first instinct – 'Oh my God, if there's three gunshots, there's three bullets flying around," she said.

Police said no others were injured, but as a precaution, Briarlake Elementary School and nearby Lakeside High School went on lockdown.

"I'm still freaked out. Until they find the gunmen, I'm still going to be super scared and every time I walk into the kitchen, all I can hear are those gunshots," said Visbal.

Police are searching for the two gunmen. Officers believe they have one of the gunmen cornered in the area between Lavista Road, Frazier Road, Lawrenceville Highway and Montreal Road. They describe him as a 25-year-old man; they said he was last seen wearing a gray plaid shirt with a blue shirt underneath, blue jeans and construction-type boots.