The main suspect was identified as Travis Landrey, a native of Louisiana, and his accomplice, Braylon Espree, were captured by Atlanta police in connection with the death of Christopher Eberhart who was found in a vacant lot in Buckhead.
Atlanta police have arrested two men in connection with the death of a man who was fatally shot on Peachtree Battle Avenue NW in Buckhead last Thursday morning.
Update from @Atlanta_Police on the investigation and arrests in the homicide that occurred on 10/13/22 at 1225 Peachtree Battle. Travis Landrey faces charges including murder and carjacking. He was stopped inside the victim’s pickup truck. @wsbradio pic.twitter.com/PbkKSx6LON
— Veronica Waters (@MissVWaters) October 17, 2022
The prime suspect was identified as Travis Landrey, 18, of Louisiana, and his accomplice, Braylon Espree, were arrested in connection with the death of 57-year-old Christopher Eberhart.
“We believe he was in Atlanta, in a place he didn’t know, with a firearm, and he was desperate for transportation,” Atlanta police Detective Kevin Leonpacher said.
Landrey, who was captured in Alabama, faces murder charges and is awaiting extradition back to Georgia.
Police say Landrey’s confrontation with authorities began in Atlanta around 4:20 a.m. Thursday.
“An Atlanta police officer made a traffic stop on a vehicle that did not have a license plate and was at the intersection and Moore’s Mill Road,” Leonpacher stated.
According to officials, Landrey and Espree were inside the car when the driver fled from authorities and when the vehicle was later found, only Espree was inside.
He was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening. Landrey walked away from the accident before officers arrived.
“We believe that he was walking around Buckhead somewhere in that same area with a firearm trying to get a new form of transportation. We assume that he encountered Mr. Eberhart in a driveway on Peachtree Battle Avenue and that led to a confrontation that led to the hijacking of Mr. Eberhart’s GMC Sierra pickup truck and his shooting death at the scene,” he stated. Leonpacher.
At some point, Landrey contacted Espree again after he was released from the hospital at 9:30 in the morning.
“And after the two hooked up, they fled the state of Georgia in Mr. Eberhart’s truck and we tracked that vehicle to Alabama heading south on Interstate 65,” Leonpacher said.
Federal, state, and local law enforcement, Atlanta police intercepted the van in Mobile County, Alabama, around 4:00 p.m. Thursday and safely apprehended the two men.