Veteran killed outside bar while celebrating Veterans Day: ‘Just so hard to accept’

CHATHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC/Gray News) – A veteran in Georgia was shot and killed while working at a bar in the final hours of Veterans Day celebrations.

Chatham County police say the shooting happened just before 2 a.m. Wednesday at Little Lucky’s Bar.

Investigators believe the suspect approached the victim, D’angelo “Akon” Shaw, while he was outside the business before the shooting.

Officers arrested 45-year-old Jeremy Scarth in connection to the shooting. He’s charged with murder.

A motive is currently unclear.

Friends say Shaw, a veteran, was working at the bar when he was killed.

After hearing the news of the deadly shooting, friends like Kim Eller and Andrew Rawlings returned to the bar Wednesday night to see if what they had heard was true.

“I feel lost… just feel lost,” Rawlings said.

“I can’t even believe it is true. Now, I’m just in shock,” Eller added.

Both Rawlings and Eller say they were at Little Lucky’s Bar celebrating Veterans Day just hours before their friend was killed.

“We were all just laughing and having a good time, I don’t understand how it went so wrong,” Eller said.

Shaw was an Army veteran who worked his way from homelessness to becoming a general manager of a gym.

Friends describe him as protective, caring, hardworking and someone they all learned to lean on.

“He would just help you,” Eller said. “If you were down and out, he would just help you, and that was one thing I respected so much about him and one thing that really bonded us.”

Heartbroken by the news, friends say they want justice for Shaw. They also want him to be remembered as the most caring and loving person they knew.

“It’s just so hard to accept that it was him, because he was always so happy, always smiling, always working and would do anything for anyone,” Eller said.