Stephen Gerard Gilner was a 32-year-old Cobb County Police officer and U.S. Marine Corps veteran who died after being shot while on duty during a July 23, 1999 SWAT response in Marietta. The call began when a man assaulted a neighbor and wounded the first officer on the scene; the suspect then barricaded himself in a home near William Paul Drive and Randy Court and held his mother hostage. After hours of negotiations, the SWAT team entered and the suspect opened fire with a shotgun.

Sergeant Steve Matthew Reeves was the first officer struck. Officer Gilner entered the line of fire to pull Reeves to safety and was critically wounded in the attempt. Both officers were taken to a hospital; Reeves died shortly after midnight and Gilner died on July 24, 1999. A third officer was also wounded. The standoff ended the next morning when the suspect, identified as Greg Smith, was shot and killed by a Cobb County Sheriff’s Office SWAT sniper as he tried to flee. Gilner was survived by his wife and his 22-month-old daughter.

Does anyone have memories of Officer Gilner or information about the July 1999 incident that could add to the record?