Investigators believe that the two bodies found in an Amy Lane house after the Marietta and Cobb Sheriff SWAT teams were called in were the result of a murder-suicide. See the original story after this update for a description of how the incident began.

Officer Chuck McPhilamy distributed the following update this afternoon after the preliminary investigation had been done and the dead were identified.:

We can now confirm that the two individuals found deceased inside 258 Amy drive were thirty-five-year-old Courtney Dobberson-Watts and thirty-seven-year-old Michael Reno.  The house was being rented by Dobberson-Watts and according to their families the two were in a relationship.  Evidence indicates that this was a murder-suicide.  No other information is available at this time.  This remains an open investigation and anyone with information is urged to contact the Marietta Police Department (770-794-5300) or Crime Stoppers Greater Atlanta (404-577-8477) if you wish to remain anonymous. 

Original story

Two people were discovered dead, including the suspect, after the Marietta Police Department and Cobb County Sheriff SWAT teams attempted to negotiate the surrender of a suspect in auto theft and other crimes who was barricaded in a house on Amy Drive.

A public information release from Officer Chuck McPhilamy of the Marietta Police Department described the incident as follows:

At 3:51 PM Saturday April 6, 2024, Marietta Police Department (MPD) officers notified Cobb County 911 dispatch that they had located a vehicle with a stolen license plate parked on Amy Drive via a Flock Safety camera alert.  The officers had been canvasing the area based on the license plate reader alert.  When the officers approached the vehicle, the driver fled from them inside the residence at 258 Amy Drive.  During the course of the investigation, it was discovered that the same suspect was a person of interest in connection with a theft of a large amount of guns and cash from a residence in Paulding County.  When the suspect, now identified as thirty-seven-year-old Michael Allen Reno, refused to come outside, the MPD Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team was activated. 

MPD SWAT requested assistance from the Cobb County Sheriffs Office, and both SWAT teams worked methodically to negotiate a peaceful surrender.  According to detectives with the Paulding County Sheriffs Office, Michael Reno is accused of taking over $18,000 in cash and approximately $20,000 in handguns and rifles from his brothers’ residence.  While attempting to make contact with Reno, at least one rifle was visible from outside the house.

At approximately 10:15 PM the teams made entry into the residence with drones.  At approximately 10:40 PM SWAT operators made entry into the residence where they found Reno’s body barricaded in a back room with multiple weapons.  An adult female was also laying on the ground near him, both deceased.   

According to the public information release no other information is available at this time, and the incident is still under investigation.

About the City of Marietta

The City of Marietta is the county seat of Cobb County. The latest estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau puts the population of the city at 60,867 which makes it the second largest city in Cobb County by population, smaller only than the newly incorporated City of Mableton.

Here are a few quick facts from the Census Bureau