In the summer of 1999, a violent confrontation in a quiet Marietta neighborhood tragically cut short the life of Cobb County Police Sergeant Steve Matthew Reeves. A 14-year veteran of the department and a U.S. Army National Guard veteran, the 35-year-old officer was a member of the SWAT team responding to a volatile domestic situation that had already resulted in the shooting of another officer.
The incident began as an unprovoked assault by a man on his neighbor.
When the first officer arrived at the scene, he was met with a hail of bullets from both a handgun and a shotgun, sustaining injuries to his arms, legs, and back. As the situation escalated into a standoff, the SWAT team was called in to enter the residence. As the team made their entry, the gunman opened fire. Sergeant Reeves, the fourth officer through the door, was struck by the blast.
A fellow officer, Stephen Gilner, heroically pulled Sergeant Reeves out of the line of fire before re-entering the house himself, only to also be fatally shot. Both Sergeant Reeves and Officer Gilner were rushed to a local hospital, where Sergeant Reeves succumbed to his injuries shortly after midnight on July 23, 1999.
The standoff continued until the following morning when the Cobb County Sheriff's Office's SWAT team took over the operation. The suspect, identified as Greg Smith, was shot and killed as he attempted to escape from a bathroom window at the rear of the house. Due to the death of the suspect, there were no subsequent arrests or trials. Sergeant Reeves was survived by his wife and two teenage sons.
