Three entities were most important to Scott Riner: God, country and family.
The father of two worked as a corrections officer for the Gwinnett County Department of Corrections for 12 years, obtaining the rank of senior corrections officer. Riner took pride in his duty to the community and wore his badge with honor, according to his family.
Riner, 59, was shot and killed Tuesday morning in the parking lot of the Gwinnett County Comprehensive Correctional Complex as he arrived 40 minutes early for his 7 a.m. shift at the facility. His body was found lying near his vehicle in the parking lot. Yahya Abdulkadir, 22, of Dacula was arrested and charged with felony murder and aggravated assault, the Gwinnett County Police Department announced Friday.
Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Monday in the Peachtree Corners Chapel of Crowell Brothers Funeral Homes & Crematory. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at North Metro Baptist Church in Lawrenceville. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in memory of Riner to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Foundation.
An avid outdoorsman, Riner would spend weekends at his farm hunting, fishing or riding his tractor. According to his obituary, Riner enjoyed the simple things in life and loved to spend time with his siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins.
Born in Atlanta, Riner grew up in the Embry Hills area of DeKalb County, going to Warren Elementary and Henderson High School. He remained in contact with many of his childhood friends, according to his obituary.
Riner would later move to Gwinnett County. He was married for 22 years and had a son and a daughter. He recently became a grandfather and loved watching YouTube videos and fishing with his grandson.
Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC
Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC
At the correctional facility, he was loved and admired not only by his coworkers but by inmates as well. Capt. Audrey Henderson said Riner was a dedicated employee, who took his duty seriously.
“Being in this negative environment sometimes, working here, it’s easy to come in and be negative and be unhappy, but that’s not who he was,” Henderson said. “And every day he did it on a daily basis. That’s a hard job to do.”
Riner served with a tight-knit group that takes inmates crews out for work details. His coworkers are taking his death particularly hard, Henderson said.
“Officer Riner was even liked by the inmates, and that’s kind of hard to say sometimes,” she said. “Because he treated inmates fair, he did what he was supposed to do, they even liked him. So they are having a hard time with this.”
John Starks, who was an inmate on Riner’s work details years ago, said Riner changed his life for the better. Without Riner, Starks said he would have ended up back in jail after he was released in 2017.
“He really helped me a lot,” Starks said. “He showed me there was a better life out here in the free world than having to spend it all in prison.”
Starks said he broke down and cried after he heard that Riner had been shot and killed. He would often spend time at Riner’s farm and would go hunting with him.
“I’ll always remember Scott Riner,” he said. “I called him my brother.”
About the Author
