By Holly Yan, Chris Boyette, CNN
Decatur, Georgia (CNN) — To the public, Lauren Bullis was a dedicated employee for the Department of Homeland Security in Georgia – a consummate professional committed to public service.
To her loved ones, the 40-year-old from Decatur was an adventurous explorer who traveled the world and brought joy to friends near and far.
“You couldn’t meet her and not be her friend,” fellow DHS auditor Ashley Toillion told the Associated Press. “She was just the nicest, sweetest, most encouraging person I’ve ever met.”
The pair bonded over running and planned to take part in a race at Walt Disney World.
But on Monday morning, as Bullis was walking her French bulldog Sancho, she was shot and stabbed in Panthersville – an unincorporated community about 15 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta.
Her death came just hours after another woman, 31-year-old Prianna Weathers, was gunned down near a restaurant in Decatur. A third shooting victim, an unhoused man who was attacked outside a grocery store in Brookhaven, survived but was critically injured.
Based on surveillance footage and license plate readers, authorities believe the same man, 26-year-old Olaolukitan Adon Abel of Atlanta, shot all three victims in a rampage that has been highlighted by the Trump administration.
While the motive remains unclear, Bullis’ employment at DHS and Adon Abel’s status as a naturalized citizen has sparked questions – and criticism from the agency about crimes the suspect committed after he became a US citizen.
She was ‘forever planning her next journey’
Bullis was a beloved fixture in her neighborhood – often seen running, walking Sancho or tending to the gorgeous flowers she planted in her yard.
She “embraced the sport of running with great gusto, having run 5ks, 10ks, and half-marathons across the country,” her obituary says. “On visits to loved ones, Lauren always asked for a spare key so she could get her miles in without waking her hosts.”
Just last month, Bullis completed her first marathon in Atlanta.
“She’s very athletic,” neighbor Portia Powell said. “If she ain’t walking the dog, she’s running.”
Powell forged a strong friendship with Bullis in recent years, bonding over their shared love of gardening.
“She’s always, ‘Hey, Miss Portia, how you doing?’… so outgoing and friendly,” Powell said.
Bullis’ death has “impacted the neighborhood tremendously,” Powell said. “I think it would make us all more aware of what’s going on in the neighborhood and look out for each other.”
The tragedy devastated colleagues at the DHS Office of Inspector General, where Bullis was an auditor and a team leader, the agency said.
“Lauren approached her work with integrity, thoughtfulness, and a commitment to excellence that strengthened our organization and the communities we serve,” DHS said. “She brought warmth, kindness, and a genuine sense of care to her colleagues each day.”
Bullis’ husband, stepdaughter, parents and siblings are now united in grief, robbed of their generous, hilarious, globe-trotting beacon of light.
“She put the needs of others before her own, tending many times over the years to sick friends and ones who had merely overindulged. She was enormous fun, a great host, dignified, unpretentious, and riotously funny,” Bullis’ obituary says.
“Lauren loved travel, alone or with others, having visited far-flung locales in Egypt, Peru, Greece, Spain, Ireland, and France, among many, many others,” it read. “She was forever planning her next journey.”
Anothe