Mayor: No Evidence of Lynching in Man's Death at Atlanta Park

ATLANTA -- Mayor Kasim Reed announced Thursday that he has asked the FBI to investigate the death of a man who was found hanging from a tree early Thursday morning in a local park.

"I am deeply saddened by the loss of a young man's life last night in Piedmont Park," the mayor said in a statement. "This disturbing event demands our full attention."

"We will not prejudge the circumstances," Reed said in response to rumors on social media that the death was the result of a lynching.

The Atlanta Police Department "is conducting a robust investigation," the mayor said, adding that "everything we have seen suggests that there was no foul play involved."

Police officers were called to Piedmont Park shortly before 5 a.m. and discovered the man’s body hanging from a tree by a rope, a police spokesman told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Emergency personnel at the scene confirmed that the man was dead.

The police did not release the man's name on Thursday. Rumors circulated on social media that his death had been the result of a lynching, AJC.com reported.

But the police spokesman said there were no signs of a struggle or foul play, and a medical examiner concurred that the man's death was a suicide. An autopsy has been scheduled, AJC.com reported.

Crisis Resources
If you or someone you know is in crisis, the phone number of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 800-273-8255. More information is available at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and the Suicide Prevention Resource Center.

In Fulton County, the local Department of Mental Health has a 24/7 suicide hotline at (404) 730-1600 - for TDD, (404) 730-1608.

Another resource is the Georgia chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.