2 Dead, at Least 2 Others Shot in Burst of Gunfire

Two people were killed and at least two others wounded Wednesday evening in a shooting in an unincorporated area of Athens, sheriff’s deputies and witnesses said.

About 7:30 p.m., three men got out of a car in the 600 block of East 136th Street and approached the victims, all in their 20s. Witnesses said all three men had guns, but the witnesses didn’t know how many fired the weapons. Deputies also could not say.

Joaquin Hillman was walking from his grandmother’s driveway to a friend’s house nearby when he was shot in the face. A second man, who was getting out of his car nearby, also was shot. Hillman died at the scene and the second man died at a hospital.

A woman who was in the yard of Hillman’s grandmother’s house was shot and wounded. It wasn’t clear where the other wounded victim was when the attack occurred.

Hillman’s uncle, Donald Hillman, said his nephew worked at an auto dealership and “was a good kid with a future. He just picked the wrong time to walk out of the house.”

The killers got away. Deputies, who were still interviewing witness late Wednesday night on the cordoned-off block, said they didn’t know the motive for the shootings.