Cartersville Police Officers were dispatched to the law office of Antonio Mari at 605 North Tennessee Street at approximately 1:37 yesterday afternoon in reference to a shooting reported to the Bartow 911 dispatch center. Upon arrival, officers cleared the building and located Mr. Antonio Mari with three gunshot wounds. Mr. Mari was pronounced deceased at the scene.

The initial call into 911 indicating that the homicide had taken place was from the suspect’s (Walter Radford) recently divorced ex-wife. Mari was the divorce attorney for Radford’s ex-wife. Mr. Radford called his ex-wife to notify her of the homicide immediately after while fleeing the scene.

Cartersville Investigators determined Mr. Mari had been shot by Walter Radford and fled the scene in a late model Ford pickup truck. Cartersville Police Officers, with the assistance of the Bartow County Sheriff’s Department, located the pickup truck at 68 Willow Bend Drive near Cartersville. Officers and deputies made forced entry to the residence at approximately 2:40 and found Mr. Radford deceased from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Radford appeared to have forcibly entered the residence through the back door.

The Cartersville Police Department was assisted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.