A thoughtful Neighbor reached out to UHNA Security Patrol Coordinator Jamie Hargather regarding the recent homicide. Below is the original query and APD liaison's considered response, shared with permission.
Thank you neighbors and volunteers for making Underwood Hills such a wonderful place to live!
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Dear Jamie,
I hope you and your family are doing well.
I am very concerned after reading about the 6/14/25 shooting(s) incident on DeFoor Place and I am hoping our Security Patrol Officer can give our neighbors additional information beyond what was given in our UHNA newsletter.

Three of my questions are:

1. Was this incident something that stemmed from some “personal interaction” between the shooting victims (Did they know each other?) or was it “random?”

2. Was this incident related to activity which occurred on the grounds of the Dynasty Event Lounge (1745 DeFoor Place) or was it related to activity across the street at Street Execs?

3. Is this incident an indication that our neighbors may be in ongoing increased danger? For example, if the incident which led to the shootings stemmed from a random carjacking or a random armed robbery, this could happen to any of us and our neighbors need to know this so that we can take extra safety precautions.

As you likely will recall, after a man was murdered at Street Execs in 2016, the owner/manager (?) of Street Execs met with the neighbors at a UHNA meeting and told us of new security procedures that he planned to implement in order to increase safety there.  If these shootings are related to Street Execs, maybe we should ask the owner/manager there to meet with us again to hear our recent concerns.

If our Security Patrol Officer has any more information which he can share with us, I would like to see it published in the next UHNA newsletter.
------ response from Det. Leonpacher -----
Dear [Underwood Hills resident]
  I understand your concern about the homicide on June 14th given its proximity to the neighborhood.  We are quite limited on what information we can release about major crimes such as this.  All public dissemination of information concerning homicides comes from our Public Affairs Unit and is carefully vetted to ensure the public remains informed and active investigations are not compromised.

To address your question #3, to the best of my knowledge, the shooting involved subjects that were at the same location for some period of time.  In other words, this was not a random act of violence.  I do not have any information about the pre-existing relationship between the parties nor has the Homicide Unit or Public Affairs released such information.  From what I know, this was an isolated incident that may have involved a crime of opportunity inside the location and was not an incident that would prompt me to put residents in the area on high alert.

I think that Underwood Hills residents meeting with local business owners to discuss concerns is a great idea.  A forum that may be appropriate for resident input and city representation may be your NPU meeting.  You can find information about NPU meetings here:

https://www.atlantaga.gov/government/departments/city-planning/neighborhood-planning-units/neighborhood-and-npu-contacts

I believe Underwood Hills is NPU-D.

I hope you find some of this information helpful.  If you have any additional questions or concerns, please feel free to email us at [email protected] or give us a call on the neighborhood patrol phone.

Best,

Det. Kevin Leonpacher
Atlanta PD / Underwood Hills Patrol