Atlanta

Series of Real-Time EmergencyNet News Reports Concerning a Shooting Rampage at 3500 Piedmont in Atlanta, GA; 29 July 1999 to 30 July 1999

07/29/99

Breaking News from: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

Atlanta, GA (16:15EDT) Preliminary and sketchy reports are coming in, from emergency service sources, of a "multiple shooting" in an office building at 3500 Piedmont on the North side of Atlanta. The gunman is currently not believed to be in custody and a police/SWAT search for the assailant is underway. At least ten people are believed to have been wounded in the incident. According to eyewitnesses, there are possible fatalities at the scene. Few other details are immediately available, but EmergencyNet News has a correspondent in the area and will provide additional reports as the details become available...

(17:30EDT) Additional reports continue to filter in of the multiple shooting in Atlanta. At least twelve (12) people are believed to have been shot in a rampage that is thought to have begun at about 15:00EDT in the Altech Investment offices in the Georgia Security Center. Police SWAT and dog teams continue to search for the alleged gunman, who is described as a white male, 6'4" tall.

An emergency service source told Emergencynet News that offices are being cleared by police teams and that some people are still trapped in various buildings in the area of the incident. Emergency operations continue at this hour and what is described as a "massive police presence" is present at the scene.

(17:35EDT) Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell is personally reporting in a news conference at this hour that there are nine (9) fatalities at the scene in the vicinity of 3500 and 3525 Piedmont. Mayor Campbell identified the alleged gunman as Mark Barton, age 44. Campbell said that the whereabouts of the suspect are unknown at the time of this report and that he should considered "armed and dangerous." Mayor Campbell said that authorities have no known motivation for the shooting at this time, but that the suspect was involved in stock market transactions in at least one of the businesses in the area.

(18:40EDT) Stockbridge, GA -- A triple homicide (unofficially described as a woman and two children) is now being reported in Stockbridge (Henry County. GA), just south of Atlanta. Atlanta Mayor Campbell said that he believes there is a connection to the 3500 Piedmont shooting and the murders in Henry County. An unconfirmed report says that the woman and children in Henry County are related to the alleged suspect, for whom police are now searching. Homicide investigators are said to be on-the-scene at a home in Henry County. Few other details are immediately available, but an EmergencyNet News correspondent is currently enroute to check on this second incident.

(18:55EDT) It is now believed that the triple homicide discovered in Stockbridge, GA involves Barton's wife and two children. According to emergency sources, it is unknown when the woman and two children were killed, but it is now believed that it occurred prior to the shooting rampage in northern Atlanta. The exact cause and time of death has not been determined by police officials, who are said to be investigating at the time of this report. A "state-wide manhunt" is now said to be underway for Barton.....

(20:15EDT) The alleged gunman has been found...in Cobb County. As he was being pulled over by police, he apparently took his own life. Barton also reportedly left both a handwritten note and computer- generated note at the home of his dead wife and children. They had all been beaten to death. The notes explained "why he did what he did, according to Jimmy Mercer, police chief in Henry County. This most tragic day ended with yet another tragic event....

Excerpted from: ERRI EMERGENCY SERVICES REPORT-EmergencyNet NEWS Service-Friday, July 30, 1999-Vol. 3 - 211-09:00CDT

ATLANTA

MAN GOES ON SHOOTING RAMPAGE IN ATLANTA

A day trader opened fire in two Atlanta brokerage offices on Thursday afternoon and killed nine people. He later committed suicide as police pulled over his van. Earlier, the bodies of the man’s wife and two children by a separate marriage were found in their suburban home. Police identified the shooter as Mark O. Barton, a 44-year-old chemist from a suburb south of Atlanta. Barton, described as a day trader who had done business with one of the brokerages, was said to be concerned about financial losses that he encountered on Wednesday. Barton reportedly recently had engaged in vigorous day of trading and incurred substantial gains and losses. It was believed that he lost about $70,000 on Wednesday.

Police confirmed that Barton left notes with details on the bodies of his wife and two children, which were found at the wife’s home. Police said the children were an 11-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl. The details of the notes have not been released.

Those who have identified Barton indicated he came in to the first brokerage firm, had a normal conversation and then began shooting. According to one witness, Barton told one employee, "I hope this won’t hurt your trading day."

Barton walked into All-Tech Investment, a brokerage office at the Securities Center in the upscale Buckhead section in northern Atlanta, and began shooting. He then walked across the street and began shooting at another brokerage there. Barton had two weapons, a .45-caliber pistol and a 9 mm handgun.

A spokesperson for All-Tech said that Barton came into the Atlanta office and after speaking with the branch manager, suddenly stood up and for no reason opened fire on the manager and his secretary. Barton then went into the main trading room and began indiscriminately shooting at customers. Barton then ran out of the office and continued shooting in another part of the office building.

Four of the victims were killed in one building and five in the other. Twelve people were wounded, and seven of them were in critical condition at local hospitals. A massive search for the suspect was immediately launched, with police searching surrounding buildings floor-to-floor and checking all cars in the area.

Hours after the shooting, Barton’s 1992 Ford Aerostar van was pulled over by police. He committed suicide as officers moved in.

Police said that blunt-force trauma was the cause of death for Barton’s wife and two children, who were found dead at an apartment in Stockbridge, the town 16 miles southeast of Atlanta where Barton lived. The children’s bodies were found in their beds and the wife’s body found in a closet. A handwritten note was left on each body and a computer-generated note was left in the living room explaining why he did what he did. Police said the notes indicate that the wife may have been killed Tuesday and the children on Wednesday. Barton, who was separated from his wife, was not living with the three.

A previous wife of Barton and her mother were killed in 1993 in Alabama. No arrests were made, but Richard Igou, district attorney at the time of the killings, says Barton was the prime suspect.

The ERRI EMERGENCY SERVICES REPORT is a subscription publication of the EmergencyNet NEWS Service, which is a part of the Chicago-based Emergency Response and Research Institute. This publication specializes in Law Enforcement/Fire/EMS/Disaster and Medical Issues.

Emergency Response and Research Institute
6348 N Milwaukee Ave, Suite 312, Chicago, Illinois 60646 USA
773-631-ERRI Voice/Voice Mail
773-631-4703 Fax
773-631-3467 Computer/Modem - EMERGENCY BBS
Internet e-mail: webmaster@emergency.com
WWW page: http://www.emergency.com
Telnet: emergency.com

Return to the Police Operations Archive page