Georgia homeowner who shot and killed 3 teens in botched robbery is ‘crushed’ at their deaths

The unidentified Georgia homeowner who fatally shot three teenage boys as a result of a botched robbery has been left “crushed” by the deaths of the young men, according to his neighbors.

Neighbor and friend Brian Jenkins said the triple shooting, which left two brothers, Isaiah Reid, 16, and Jaime Hernandez, 15, along with their friend Brandon Gresham, 16, dead, has left the shooter devastated.

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‘It is very, very tragic for these young men to die like that. It just hurts me. I’m just crushed. And so is the shooter,’ Jenkins told The Washington Post.

Fellow neighbor Chico Chapman added, “He is a good neighbor. My nine-year-old son plays with his nephews,’ Chapman told DailyMail.com in an interview. He also stated that the shooter is “rarely at home,” and noted that he is also a friendly person who “always waves” to surrounding residents.

In an attempt to protect his identity, the homeowner, who neighbors say is a “quiet, hardworking truck driver,” has had residents come forward and speak on his behalf following the shooting and killing of three young men who attempted to enter his home.

Jenkins, who is acting as a spokesman for the shooter, added that he ‘acted on instinct,’ upon hearing the shots, and then held one of the boys, as the teen repeatedly told him: ‘I’m dying.’

“I told him that he wasn’t going to die, and he died,” Jenkins added remorsefully.

Deputy Lee Thomas of Rockdale County stated in a press release that Reid, Hernandez and Gresham approached a residence on White Oak Court at 4am, and, while donning masks, attempted rob three people in the front yard. One of the teen intruders is said to have been brandishing a handgun, and fired shots at the inhabitants of the home, before a man returned fire at the suspects.

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While the victims of the attempted robbery were left uninjured, one of the teens was pronounced dead at the scene. Two others passed at the hospital after sustaining injuries from the shooting.

As of Wednesday morning (Sept. 19) the homeowner had not been charged with any crime.