Atlanta Police Search After Beltline Stabbing Kills Woman
Atlanta police are searching for a man after a beltline stabbing near the Ansley Golf Club on Thursday left a woman dead. The attack happened around noon, after police say a postal worker was struck with a rock at a nearby U.S. Post Office.
Chief Darin Schierbaum said both attacks were connected and that both victims were random targets. Officers closed roughly 60 yards of the Beltline behind Flagler Avenue, just south of I-85, while they searched with K-9 units and a drone.
Schierbaum on the suspect
Schierbaum described the suspect as a Black man wearing all black clothing and riding an orange bicycle. He said the Beltline has a robust camera system and that police have good photos of the suspect, but not his identity.
"We have thousands of people on the Beltline every day, and very few incidents that occur," Schierbaum said at a news conference Thursday afternoon. He added, "This is a shock. It’s an outlier. And we’re going to make sure that we arrest this individual."
Midtown schools and Grady
The stabbing victim was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital and died there. Atlanta police did not release her identity. The Postal Service worker had minor injuries and was treated.
Midtown High School and Howard Middle School were placed on temporary lockdown after the attacks. Atlanta Public Schools said students were escorted to their school buses to head home, while students who walk or ride bicycles home had to seek parental permission or be picked up.
Beltline violence history
Schierbaum said police had reasons to believe the suspect could be experiencing a mental health crisis. Atlanta police also have a dedicated unit called the path force that patrols the Beltline and nearby parks and neighborhoods.
The Thursday attacks came after earlier violent incidents on the Beltline in 2024 and 2022. In 2024, another fatal stabbing took place in the same area and involved an escaped prison inmate charged with murder. In 2022, two men were found guilty of attempting to rob 60-year-old Thomas Arnold before killing him on the Beltline in Inman Park.
