Officials identify 16-year-old girl killed in Piedmont Park shooting
A celebratory day at Atlanta’s most popular park ended in tragedy Saturday night when a shooting killed a 16-year-old girl and left a 15-year-old wounded, Atlanta police said.
The teen killed at Piedmont Park was identified Sunday as Tianah Robinson of Riverdale, according to the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office.
Details about what led to the shooting were still limited, but Lt. Christopher Butler confirmed officers responded to the Midtown park just after 9 p.m., and the teen was pronounced dead at the scene. The younger girl was shot in the shoulder and taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where she is said to be stable.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the two teens knew each other. Investigators have not announced any arrests in the case or determined what led to the deadly shooting.
Piedmont Park was busy throughout Saturday for a 404 Day celebration. The event, including musical acts, borrows its name from Atlanta’s first area code and celebrates the city’s culture and community.
The 404 festivities were promoted to run from noon to 9 p.m., according to a flyer posted on the event website. Police said a festival held on the park’s east side, opposite from the shooting location, had a permit and ended around 7:45 p.m., before the shooting.
“At this time, there is no information indicating that the shooting is connected to that event,” police said in a statement posted on social media. “Preliminary investigation indicates the incident stemmed from an unpermitted gathering that occurred near the far west end of the park.”
404 Day event organizers could not be reached for comment Saturday night. Butler said police were still trying to determine the nature of the later gathering where the two teens were shot.
“It appears there was a gathering inside the park and then during that gathering, gunfire erupted, which led to an unfortunate deceased female,” he said.
He spoke to reporters after midnight at the intersection of 10th Street and Charles Allen Drive, where a main park entrance was still closed amid the shooting investigation.
Butler described the crime scene as “rather large.” The incident prompted police to block multiple entrances to the massive park.
Charles Allen Drive between 8th and 10th streets also was closed but reopened around midnight. Earlier, an Atlanta police crime scene investigation van was seen pulling into the park’s gate off Charles Allen Drive.
Several yards inside the park at that location, investigators searched the ground with flashlights. At least one K9 police dog was also at the scene.
Other entrances along Piedmont Avenue were blocked by police, including near the Shake Shack restaurant and at 14th Street. Areas near the park were lively and packed with people in clubs, bars and on the sidewalks just before 11 p.m.
Homicides inside bustling Piedmont Park are rare. In July 2021, Midtown resident Katie Janness and her dog, Bowie, were found stabbed to death just inside the 10th Street entrance. The 40-year-old worked at a nearby restaurant and walked in the area nightly, friends and loved ones said. The killing was the first in the park since 2009.
Janness’ gruesome, high-profile killing remains unsolved nearly five years later. Authorities are offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.
— Staff writer Christopher A. Daniel contributed to this article.
About the Authors
