MARIETTA, Ga. — A man and woman were found dead inside a Marietta home Saturday night as an hours-long standoff with a barricaded suspect came to a tragic end, police said.
The standoff centered around a suspect believed to be linked to several crimes who had barricaded themselves inside of a home in Marietta Saturday night, police said.
It all started around 3:50 p.m. Saturday, when Marietta Police officers notified Cobb County 911 dispatch that they had located a car with a stolen license plate parked on Amy Drive through a Flock camera alert. When officers approached the car, police said the driver ran away inside a home on the same street.
Through further investigation, Marietta Police discovered the suspect was a person of interest in a case where a large amount of guns and cash were stolen from a residence in Paulding County.
Police tried to get the man, 38-year-old Michael Reno, to come outside, but police said he refused, and MPD's SWAT team was activated. SWAT requested deputies from the Cobb County Sheriff's Office for assistance, and they worked to negotiate a peaceful surrender.
The Paulding County Sheriff's Office said Reno was accused of taking over $18,000 in cash and roughly $20,000 in handguns and rifles from his brother's house. As law enforcement tried to talk to Reno, police said they saw at least one rifle inside the house. Marietta Police closed down Amy Drive for several hours as they worked to talk the suspect out.
Around 10:15, police said they got inside the home with a drone, and at 10:40, officers broke into a back room where they found the two bodies. Reno was found dead with several weapons around him, and a woman, Courtney Dobberson-Watts, was also found in the room lying near him, according to police.
Officers said Dobberson-Watts were renting the house, and according to family, the two were in a relationship. As of now, evidence indicates that this was a murder-suicide.
The neighborhood is just off North Marietta Parkway and is just over a mile from Marietta Square.
This is a developing story. Check back often for new information.
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