Crime & Safety

Police continue search for suspect in Dunwoody shooting

Victim, Russell Sneiderman, remembered as generous and ambitious

Police are still searching for a suspect in a fatal shooting outside a Dunwoody day care center Thursday morning.

The shooting happened outside a preschool and nursery across from the post office in Dunwoody Village.

say the victim, Russell 'Rusty' Sneiderman, 36, had just dropped off his child at the school. As he was getting into his car, he was approached by a man with a gun, who began firing and struck Sneiderman several times.

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The shooter then fled in a silver minivan with no license plate. He was last seen heading west on Mt. Vernon Parkway. He's described as a white male 5'10" to 5'11", in his 30s, with a beard.

Sneiderman was taken to Atlanta Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

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Childhood friend  Matt Davidson was devastated to hear the news of the shooting.

"[I was] Utterly speechless, wind knocked out of me, in shock still," he said in an email. "This can't be happening to Rusty. He was a family man, devoted to his wife and kids. This was a senseless and terrible tragedy. I feel so awful for his wife and children."

Davidson, who now lives in Los Angeles, met Sneiderman when the two were in the sixth grade in Beachwood, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb. The two had been close friends growing up, playing frequent games of pick-up basketball with other kids in their neighborhood.

They eventually went to Indiana University, where they roomed together all four years.

"Rusty was ambitious, driven and loyal as they come," he said. "He had a big heart and really wanted to do good things in the world. He dreamed big and had the intellect, skills and ability to achieve all that he dreamed."

At the scene of the shooting, there was shock at the mid-morning melee outside of a daycare.

Andy Koehler, a parent who lives in Dunwoody, returned to the day care after the shooting to pick up his a 4-year-old and take him home.

"It's Dunwoody. You don't really expect something like this," Koehler said. "I came up here to get my kid. I don't take any chances."

Bruce Newman, whose wife runs the preschool, said the shooting happened at a busy drop-off time for the school. He said there were about 25 children and adults on the playground at the time of the shooting. But the playground is separated from the parking lot by a brick wall and Newman said children did not see the incident.

"Nobody on the playground saw anything," Newman said. "They heard what they thought were firecrackers."

No children or staff were hurt, police said.

Newman said police are reviewing video from the day care's security cameras. He said the facility has 32 cameras, with six outside, and secure entrances on both sides. "The facility is secure," Newman said. "It was engineered that way."

Austin Elementary School, which is just north of Dunwoody Village, and the , another day care center in the area, both went into lock down mode after the shooting, according to officials with both schools.

Karen Dickson came to pick up her grandson Caleb Hamilton, 4 of Dunwoody just before noon.

Hamilton's mother had asked Dickson to go pick up Caleb, because it sounded like most parents were coming to get their children.

"She didn't want him to get scared. I'm home so I brought him home so he wouldn't have to be here until 5 o'clock listening to all this,' she said. "I think [his mother] was concerned about his hearing it."

Dickson didn't believe the news when she first heard it.

"Here in Dunwoody? I was just very shocked," she said.

Dressler's Jewish Funeral Care is handling arrangements for funeral services, which will be private.

Police are asking anyone with information to call Det. Andrew Thompson at (678)382-6921.


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