01:58 PM EDT on Thursday, April 14, 2005

By JANELLE MARTINEZ / 6NEWS

6NEWS

A pizza delivery man was shot Wednesday night in South Charlotte.

A delivery man was shot Wednesday night as he tried to deliver a pizza to a South Charlotte apartment.

Police said a Papa John’s delivery man pulled up to the Winter Woods apartments off Sharon Road and found a man with a gun waiting for him. The suspect asked for money and then shot the delivery man in the shoulder. The delivery man also had a gun and fired back at the suspect, but police do not know if the suspect was hit.

"All of a sudden I heard three or four consecutive shots, bang, bang, bang. I see there's the pizza delivery man. I ran to him and said just relax, breathe,” said Jason Pallante, one of the victim’s neighbors.

Police say that they’re not surprised that the delivery man had a gun. They said that these types of crimes are often setups and this particular driver had been robbed before.

“That was more surprising, is that the fact that he feel he has to carry one. The fact that it happened at my apartment complex is even more unfortunate,” said Pallante.

Residents of the apartment complex said they heard four or five shots. Police said the victim is in fair condition. 6NEWS reporter Tiffani Helberg will have the latest details on this story at 5 p.m. on 6NEWS at Five.