Report: Guard Killed in DeKalb Robbery Was From Lawrenceville

The driver of the armored car who was was identified today as 32-year-old Gary Castillo of Lawrenceville, according to a DeKalb County police report.

Castillo died of his injuries at Grady Hospital in Atlanta. He was ambushed while returning to his Garda armored car with a cash pick-up from the grocery at 2205 Lavista Rd. shortly after noon. He was the first guard killed in a series of increasingly brazen armored car robberies throughout the Atlanta area that began in September. Tuesday's robbery was the seventh, according to the FBI, which is investigating the case.

The county's report also revealed several new details in the case. The two suspects–the shooter who snatched the deposit bag and a getaway driver–hopped into a stolen light blue Mercury Marquis with 22-inch chrome rims, which they were later seen ditching at the nearby intersection of Merry Lane and Pinetree Circle in Atlanta, the county report said. They hopped into a red car–possibly a Toyota Camry–that had been waiting for them. The car was last seen fleeing on Merry Lane toward North Druid Hills Road.

Garda Cash Logistics, the Montreal company that employed the guard, did not immediately return a call for comment. But the company is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the men responsible.

Kroger also released a statement yesterday, but they spelled Castillo's name differently: "Today's incident was a senseless and tragic. All of us at Kroger of Toco Hills are deeply saddened at the harm brought to someone who we feel is an extended part of our family. Kroger is fully cooperating with local law enforcement," said Glynn Jenkins, a spokesperson for Kroger's Atlanta division. "Our deepest sympathy and most sincere, heartfelt thoughts go to the family and friends of Mr. Castille."

The FBI has been chasing the men responsible for the crimes since Sept. 14 when two men robbed a Garda armored courier while he was servicing an ATM at a Bank of America on Howell Mill Road. Two men struck again in Marietta Oct. 7 when they robbed a courier at gunpoint inside a Mex-America Latino store. 

Another robbery occurred in Buford on Nov. 11, Snellville on Nov. 29 and inside the Mall of Georgia in Gwinnett County on Dec. 7. A second courier was able to fire at one of the robbers who fled the mall through a side door, according to an FBI statement. The most recent robbery occurred at a Wells Fargo bank on Redan Road in Stone Mountain on Jan. 21. Two men fired on one of the guards who was taken to the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds. He required surgery, the statement said, but he survived.

Any witness who was in the area at the time and observed this incident or anyone with information is urged to contact the FBI at 404-679-9000.