Gunman Kills at Least 9 in Shooting at Atlanta Daytrading Firm

ATLANTA -- A gunman opened fire Thursday afternoon at the Atlanta offices of daytrading firm All-Tech Investment, killing at least nine people. Officials are still searching for the suspect.

Mayor Bill Campbell confirmed the nine fatalities and identified the suspect as Mark O. Barton, 44, from suburban Morrow, Ga.

Daytrading-Office Shooting
Ambulances in front of Two Security Center, an office building in the Buckhead section of Atlanta, after a gunman opened fire in the building, killing 9.
Photo: Associated Press

Police have described the suspect as a white male, 6-feet-4-inches tall and wearing glasses. They say he had two weapons, a .45-caliber pistol and a 9-millimeter handgun.

A spokesman for All-Tech Investment said the shots had been fired in the daytrading firm's offices.

An All-Tech Investment official said the shooter was a former customer. Local reports say some people were evacuated from the building, while others were told to stay in offices and lock their doors. An employee at Robinson-Humphrey, an Atlanta brokerage firm owned by Salomon Smith Barney, said, "Police are everywhere. We've been told to stay inside and leave in groups. People are scared. This isn't supposed to happen in Buckhead," a tony Atlanta neighborhood that encompasses the city's financial district.

Lauren Coinard, who was locked inside her office with three other women, told WSB-TV in Atlanta that police called to tell them to keep their doors locked. "I'm just scared and would like to get out of here," she said.

Scott Belazi, who works in the building where the shooting took place, told WSB-TV that he saw a great quantity of blood in the office when police escorted him out as they evacuated the building.

"We saw blood," he said. "I tried to look the other way. I pass out when I see blood."