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Bandit gang hits again: Robbery victim shot, survives

Valdosta Daily Times - 11/22/2017

Nov. 22--MOULTRIE, Ga. -- Law enforcement's fears became reality this week when a man was seriously wounded in a home-invasion at the same house where gunmen beat a victim last month.

In Sunday night's robbery, a group of gunmen burst into a 194 Green St. residence used to house farmworkers. Urban Antonio is fortunate to be alive, according to police. He was shot once with the bullet entering just under his heart and exiting near his spine, Colquitt County Sheriff's Sgt. Chris Robinson said.

Antonio was in stable condition at Colquitt Regional Medical Center on Tuesday evening, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The 2:23 a.m. hold-up was similar to 11 other robberies this year targeting farmworkers.

"They went home after working all day," Robinson said. "They were approached by multiple black males with guns, (who) forced them into the home and demanded money."

At some point Antonio, who may have been asleep when the others were forced inside the residence, "stood up, and he was shot," Robinson said.

Shots have been fired in other home invasions, and two people suffered apparent minor gunshot wounds in those incidents.

But Sunday morning's violent episode brought it much closer to what police had feared -- escalation that results in a death.

The sheriff's office has requested the assistance of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to help take down the gang responsible, a group that authorities suspect numbers between six and a dozen.

"(It's) because of everything that's gone down and everything that's going on," Robinson said. "Just more resources. They have more resources and more manpower to focus on this."

Robberies have been pulled by as few as two gunmen and as many as six or more. It has been some five weeks since the last armed robbery thought to be linked to members of the armed gang.

In the first nine robberies the victims were approached outside as they were either hanging out outside their residences or returning from grocery shopping. That changed on the night of Oct. 9 when a group of gunmen broke into the same Green Street residence where Sunday's violence occurred.

Raul Hernandez was staying by himself that night when the group burst in and beat him using guns, fists and feet, and forced him to the residence next door where five farmworkers were housed.

The six men were forced into the kitchen and robbed of their wallets and cash, police said.

Due to similarities in methods, the gang is also suspected in an Oct. 13 robbery of the Camilla Highway Dollar General store.

In that hold-up, about five gunmen entered around 11:45 p.m., held employees against their will and took money from the cash register and safe, according to Moultrie police. It was the only robbery thought to be linked to the gang that occurred in the City of Moultrie.

Anyone with information on the robberies can contact the sheriff's office at (229) 616-7430 or the GBI at (229) 225-4090.

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(c)2017 The Valdosta Daily Times (Valdosta, Ga.)

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