On the evening of Sunday, October 12, 1997, Atlanta Police Officer John Richard Sowa, 28, was killed while on duty. He and his partner, Officer Patricia Cocciolone, were responding to a domestic disturbance at an apartment complex at 2430 Morosgo Way. The officers were assisting an intoxicated woman and helping her return to her apartment when the woman’s boyfriend, Gregory Paul Lawler, 44, opened fire with an AR-15 rifle at the doorway.

The attack was sudden; both officers were struck multiple times and had no time to react. Officer Sowa died at the scene. Officer Cocciolone was critically wounded, including a gunshot to the head, but was able to call for help. The shooter then barricaded himself inside his apartment for about six hours before being taken into custody.

Lawler was charged with Sowa’s murder and the assault on Cocciolone; at trial he claimed self-defense, a claim the prosecution disputed. Does anyone have memories of the Morosgo Way neighborhood that night or information about the incident that could help preserve the record of Officer Sowa’s death?