It was a welfare check, the kind of call made out of love and growing concern. When friends couldn’t reach a man and a woman at a home near Piedmont Park, they asked Atlanta police to step in. What officers discovered inside that residence on Cooledge Avenue Saturday afternoon was a scene of profound loss. Two people were dead from gunshot wounds in what authorities are now investigating as a murder-suicide.
The afternoon took a devastating turn for the Atlanta Police Department. The man found inside the home was one of their own. He was later identified as Investigator Kevin Stroner, a 56-year-old officer. Deputy Chief Prenzinna Spann explained that when the initial call came in around 4 p.m., they didn’t know an officer was involved. “There was some speculation that it may have been,” Spann said, “but we did not confirm at that time.” That speculation soon became a grim reality.
According to law enforcement, the evidence suggests Stroner shot and killed his girlfriend inside his home at 618 Cooledge Avenue before turning the gun on himself. The identity of the woman has not been officially released, as police work to notify her family. The quiet street in the Atlantic Station area, typically bustling with life, became the center of a heartbreaking investigation.
Police have been quick to emphasize that this appears to be an isolated incident. They say there is no ongoing threat to the public. The focus now is on understanding what led to this violent end. The investigation remains active, with detectives piecing together the final hours and the relationship between the two individuals.
Kevin Stroner’s path to the police force was not a straight line. Born in October 1969, he came to policing as a second career. Friends and colleagues say he joined the department after economic difficulties hit his landscaping business. He found a new calling in service, a detail that makes the tragedy even more complex for those who knew him.
The Atlanta Police Department is now grappling with the dual shock of a violent crime and the loss of a colleague. The department has activated support services for officers and staff as they process their grief. This kind of loss sends ripples through the tight-knit law enforcement community, a reminder of personal struggles that often remain hidden behind the badge.
As the sun set over Piedmont Park, the normal weekend energy felt misplaced. A home on Cooledge Avenue is now a crime scene, and two families are beginning an unimaginable journey of grief. Atlanta police are urging anyone with information about the case to come forward, hoping for clarity in the wake of a tragedy that started with a simple call from concerned friends.
