A convict who murdered an Atlanta police officer outside his Buckhead apartment in 1997 is scheduled to be executed Oct. 19, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Gregory Paul Lawler in his Georgia Department of Corrections prison identification photo.

Gregory Paul Lawler was sentenced to die in 2000 for the crime on Morosgo Way in the Lindbergh area, where he opened fire with a rifle containing armor-piercing bullets on two police officers who had given Lawler’s girlfriend a ride home from a bar. Officer John Sowa was killed and Officer Patricia Cocciolone was wounded, according to the AJC.

Atlanta Police Officer John Sowa, who was killed in the line of duty by Gregory Lawler. (Photo from Atlanta Police Department Facebook)

A judge signed Lawler’s death warrant Oct. 5, setting his execution date.

John Ruch

John Ruch is an Atlanta-based journalist. Previously, he was Managing Editor of Reporter Newspapers.