Suspect in custody after woman killed in Atlanta Beltline stabbing
Atlanta police arrested a man hours after they said he randomly attacked two people, including a woman who was fatally stabbed on the Beltline near the Ansley Golf Club, authorities said Thursday.
Officers spotted the suspect and a bike he had been riding on Peachtree Street near Pine Street shortly after asking the public for help looking for him, officials said. The man was arrested without incident, authorities announced, and his identity was not immediately released.
The stabbing incident along the popular Beltline path in northeast Atlanta was reported around noon, shaking the city, locking down two schools and spurring the massive manhunt. The victim was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital, where she died, police said. Her identity was not released.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens sought to quell fears at a news conference announcing the arrest a bit after 6:30 p.m. He said the city has implemented multiple safety measures to help keep people safe on the Beltline, including police bike patrols, an extensive camera network and extra lighting.
“The Beltline is a high-traffic area, and this happened during the daytime, and this is an individual that probably was just going about a normal activity on the Beltline that most people do,” Dickens said of the woman who died. “To have this happen, we know that gives people a little bit of concern, or a lot of concern.”
Just before the stabbing, a postal worker was attacked with a rock at the nearby U.S. Post Office. The person was treated for minor injuries, officials said.
Both incidents are connected, and the victims were random targets, Atlanta police Chief Darin Schierbaum said at an earlier news conference Thursday afternoon.
“We have thousands of people on the Beltline every day, and very few incidents that occur,” Schierbaum said. “This is a shock. It’s an outlier. And we’re going to make sure that we arrest this individual.”
During the investigation, police closed roughly 60 yards of the Beltline behind Flagler Avenue, just south of I-85, with crime scene tape.
Midtown High School and Howard Middle School were placed on a temporary lockdown. Atlanta Public Schools spokesperson Seth Coleman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that students were escorted to their school buses to head home, while students who walk or ride their bicycles home had to seek parental permission or be picked up.
Atlanta police officers and K-9 units were seen searching on foot in the area. Schierbaum said the department had officers on bicycles, on foot, in vehicles, and using drones in the search for the suspect, who the chief said was riding an orange bicycle.
“We do have reasons to believe that he could be experiencing a mental health crisis,” Schierbaum said before the arrest.
Keona Swindler, a spokesperson for Atlanta Beltline Inc., which oversees planning and development of the miles-long walking and biking path, said the organization is “aware of an incident.” She directed questions about the stabbing to Atlanta police.
The police department has a dedicated unit, dubbed the “path force,” of officers who patrol the Beltline and nearby parks and neighborhoods, Schierbaum said.
After the arrest, he urged people to “go out and enjoy the Beltline.”
“It’s a great place to be. You’ll probably see me there this weekend,” the chief said.
Another stabbing incident took place on the Beltline in the same area in 2024. That fatal stabbing involved an escaped prison inmate who was charged with murder in the incident, the AJC previously reported.
In 2022, a man was found shot to death on the Beltline in Inman Park. Two men were found guilty of attempting to rob the victim, 60-year-old Thomas Arnold, before killing him, the AJC previously reported.
Caroline Silva, Vanessa McCray and Ben Hendren contributed to this story.
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