The driver said a bullet tore through his jaw and cheek as shots erupted at a southwest Atlanta apartment complex.
ATLANTA, Ga. — A food delivery driver was shot in the face Tuesday night at a southwest Atlanta apartment complex after he pulled a teenage girl into his car to protect her when gunfire broke out, according to the driver and Atlanta police.
The shooting happened at Oakland City Apartments, where the driver, identified only as Samuel, said he had arrived to deliver food when the sound of repeated shots cut through the complex. The case now sits in the hands of Atlanta police investigators, who have released few details about who opened fire or why. For Samuel, the immediate stakes were survival. For police, the next step is sorting out how a delivery stop turned into another violent shooting in southwest Atlanta.
Samuel told FOX 5 Atlanta that the night had seemed routine until the first bursts rang out near the apartments. At first, he said, the sound reminded him of firecrackers. Then the shots moved closer. He said he reacted by pulling the teenage girl tied to the delivery into his vehicle, trying to use the car as cover while the gunfire continued. During that scramble, he was hit. Samuel said the bullet entered the back of his jawline and came out through his cheek. He also said three other rounds pierced his hair wrap and knocked off several of his locks. “An inch to the left or an inch to the right, it would have killed me,” Samuel said as he described the narrow miss.
Police have not publicly identified the teenager or said whether she was the intended target, a bystander or simply caught in the area when the shots started. Samuel said the girl was not hurt. He also said his girlfriend, who was with him, escaped injury. Atlanta police said in a preliminary account that the victim was in the area of 1165 Oakland Lane SW when he heard gunfire and was struck. That description matches Samuel’s account only in broad outline, leaving major questions unresolved. Investigators have not said how many people were involved, whether there was more than one shooter, whether anyone exchanged fire, or whether officers have recovered shell casings, surveillance footage or witness video from the complex.
The shooting adds to a week of violence in southwest Atlanta, where police were already investigating other serious gun cases, including a fatal shooting on Metropolitan Parkway earlier the same day. While the cases have not been linked, the overlap in time and geography underscores the pressure facing investigators in the city’s southwest quadrant. Samuel’s account also highlights how gig and delivery workers can become unintended victims in places where they have no connection beyond a pickup or dropoff. He was not there for a dispute, he said, but to complete an order. Instead, he left wounded, his vehicle damaged and his sense of safety shattered.
After he was hit, Samuel said he tried to drive himself to a hospital despite losing heavy amounts of blood. Before he made it there, he flagged down an Atlanta police officer, who gave aid until paramedics arrived, according to FOX 5’s earlier report and police information released that night. Authorities have not announced any arrest, identified a suspect or described a possible motive. As of Friday night, police were still investigating and were asking anyone with information to come forward. The department has not said whether detectives have determined who fired the shot that struck Samuel or whether the gunfire was aimed at someone else in the complex.
The physical damage Samuel showed reporters was matched by the fear in his description of the aftermath. He said neither he nor his girlfriend had been able to sleep since the shooting. He also said the family is now trying to move. “I never heard them all at the same time like that,” Samuel said, recalling the rapid burst of shots. In the quiet after the gunfire, he was left with blood on his face, holes through his hair wrap and a survival story that he said could easily have ended in death. His appeal afterward was simple: people in the community, he said, need to look out for one another.
Samuel was recovering Friday as Atlanta police continued to investigate the shooting at Oakland Lane. The next public milestone is likely to be any update from detectives on suspects, motive or arrests.
Author note: Last updated April 18, 2026.