Investigators believe a man shot and killed a woman at a northeast Atlanta high-rise and then shot himself at a park nearby Thursday afternoon, police said.
Atlanta police are investigating the motive behind the apparent murder-suicide, which prompted a large police presence in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood Thursday. The relationship between the two killed was not disclosed.
“Again, this police department is making an appeal. When you’re angry, put the weapons down,” interim police Chief Darin Schierbaum said during a news briefing at the crime scene. “Walk away from the weapons.”
Officers were called to Central Park on Merritts Avenue about 1:25 p.m. regarding a person who was shot. While they were en route, the 911 caller updated dispatch that a man had shot himself, Deputy Chief Charles Hampton said. He was identified by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office as 64-year-old Robert Coker.
“We did in fact find a male in his late 60s shot, deceased, with a weapon in his lap with all indication that it was a self-inflicted wound,” said Hampton, adding that the man was found inside the popular park.
Ten minutes later, officers were called to Cosby Spear Memorial Towers along North Avenue regarding another person shot. Dahlaia Roberts, 60, was found dead, the medical examiner confirmed.
“Right now, early indication appears that these two incidents are related, where the individual here at the park may be responsible for the incident at the high-rise,” Hampton said.
Investigators remained at both locations for several hours Thursday afternoon.
Earlier Thursday, Atlanta police opened another shooting death investigation after a man’s body was found at the Columbia Commons apartments along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Hampton said officers were notified of a shooting around 10:30 a.m. but could not locate the victim until another 911 caller spotted the body an hour later.
He was identified by the medical examiner as 48-year-old Cheron Wade. Hampton said investigators were speaking to four occupants of a car who may have been involved in the shooting, but they have not been identified as suspects.
Homicides in Atlanta are up this year over this time last year, but Schierbaum is optimistic the trend will reverse.
“When you look at the homicide trends, they have actually been decreasing since April of this year, and they are on course at some point to actually go negative over this time last year,” the interim chief said. “But anger is so hard for this police department to predict.”
Schierbaum said the department has been successful in attacking gangs and drug operations that drive violent crime in Atlanta, but in cases like the apparent murder-suicide, violence is driven by a moment of anger and escalated by a handgun.
“We can’t stop moments of anger, and that combination of a weapon that is at hand, that is going to lead to tragedy,” he said.
Credit: WSBTV Videos
