A June 6, 2022 shooting at Friends Food Mart on Houston Avenue in Macon, Georgia ended the lives of 19-year-old Braxton Cole and 21-year-old Roderick Felton and left a 23-year-old bystander, DeRoderick Collins, wounded. According to the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, Cole approached Felton in the parking lot that evening, followed him inside, and an argument escalated until Cole fired a gun at Felton. Felton returned fire; both men were struck. Felton died shortly after arriving at the hospital and Cole died the next morning. Collins was hospitalized and listed in stable condition.

Law enforcement described Cole as the aggressor in the confrontation. The convenience store had seen gun violence before and was later declared a nuisance by a Bibb County Superior Court Judge because of recurring incidents. Cole was remembered by his pastor and family as a smiling young man who wanted to graduate; he was a son, brother, nephew, and father and had participated in a program called Street to Success aimed at steering youth away from violence.

If anyone knew Braxton Cole or witnessed what happened at Friends Food Mart that night, please share what you know.