ATLANTA — Attacks along the Atlanta Beltline this year renewed concerns about how safe people are while walking, running and biking on metro Atlanta’s parks and trails.
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Channel 2 Action News’s Michael Seiden and Channel 2 Investigates spent weeks examining random acts of violence in public recreation areas across North Georgia, reviewing four years of FBI crime data and speaking with police and survivors.
The analysis identified at least 663 victims of random violence at public recreation areas in 11 metro Atlanta counties from 2022 through 2025. Fulton, DeKalb and Gwinnett counties accounted for more than 500 of them.
For one survivor, what began as an ordinary walk with her 3-year-old son changed her family forever.
Valerie Kasper was 25 weeks pregnant on June 5, 2021, when she took her son, Benjamin, for a walk along the Peachtree Creek Greenway in Brookhaven.
As they headed back toward their car, she saw a stranger walking directly toward them.
“I just had the creeps,” Kasper said. “I didn’t know if he was on drugs or not. His eyes looked crazy to me.”
She kept moving toward her car. Then she noticed the man was still there, watching her.
“The next second I was being attacked,” Kasper said.
At first, she thought the man was punching her.
“I turned and saw the knife and blood and literally screamed like bloody murder,” she said.
Bleeding from her injuries, Kasper called 911.
Her injuries were severe. Doctors had to repair damage to her colon and liver and perform an emergency cesarean section.
Her son, Theodore, was born at just 25 weeks.
Now 5, Theodore can crawl and get around on his own, his mother said, but he still needs support. Kasper said he has cerebral palsy after being born extremely premature.
When Theodore was born, Kasper said, he suffered bleeding in his brain.
“Gravity is too heavy on a baby that’s supposed to still be floating,” she said.
Kasper was also beginning her own recovery from the stabbing while her newborn son received medical care.
“I couldn’t stand, I could not walk, I couldn’t do anything,” she said. “And even holding him for the first time, four nurses helped me get out of the chair.”
Days after Kasper’s attack, another violent crime shook metro Atlanta.
Katie Janness and her dog were killed in Piedmont Park. The case remains unsolved.
And this year, attacks along the Atlanta Beltline have again put violence in public recreation areas in the spotlight.
Channel 2 Action News analyzed four years of FBI crime data for public recreation areas across 11 metro Atlanta counties.
After excluding shootings involving multiple victims, the analysis identified at least 663 victims of random violence from 2022 through 2025.
Three counties accounted for the majority of those victims:
- Fulton County: 228 victims
- DeKalb County: 184 victims
- Gwinnett County: 122 victims
- 11-county metro total: 663 victims
Combined, Fulton, DeKalb and Gwinnett counties accounted for 534 victims identified in the analysis.
Communities across metro Atlanta have taken steps aimed at making parks and trails safer, including improved lighting, additional video cameras and emergency call boxes that can alert police when and where someone needs help.
Law enforcement agencies have also focused on making officers more visible in public recreation areas.
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In Gwinnett County, police said officers who are not responding to calls are encouraged to spend time in parks.
“Whenever an officer is not on a call or doing something, they are usually patrolling the park, sitting in the park, working on paperwork, engaging with the community,” Cpl. Angela Carter with the Gwinnett County Police Department said.
But police acknowledge they cannot be everywhere.
Their advice for people using parks and trails includes avoiding going alone when possible, staying aware of their surroundings and, importantly, not dismissing the feeling that something is wrong.
“Trust your gut and if you see someone who looks suspicious or some kind of activity that just doesn’t seem right to you, contact the police immediately,” Carter said. “Don’t hesitate.”
Police stressed that their advice is not meant to discourage people from using parks and trails.
Before leaving, they recommend telling someone where you are going and considering sharing your live location. If someone or something does not feel right, police recommend creating distance, moving toward other people and calling police if you believe you are in danger.
Five years after the attack, Kasper said the memory remains fresh.
But she does not want what happened on the trail to define her family. And she does not want her story to scare people away from using parks and trails.
“I don’t wanna be seen as a victim,” Kasper said. “I’m a survivor and I wanna be an advocate now.”
As Theodore has grown, Kasper said she has grown stronger, too.
“I always said, as he got stronger, I got stronger,” she said.
For Kasper, the lesson from what happened that day is not to live in fear. It is to pay attention to your surroundings and listen when something does not feel right.
For her, that feeling came just seconds before an attack that changed her family forever.
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