Family of fallen Gwinnett County police officer mourns loss

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Grief hangs over the family and community mourning the loss of Gwinnett County Police Officer Pradeep Tamang, 25, who was shot and killed over the weekend.

“I just miss him,” said Pragyan Tamang, the younger brother of Officer Pradeep Tamang.

The Tamang family is heartbroken over the loss of their fallen family member.

“It’s sad to see that, know that he’s gone,” said Pragyan. “I believe that this incident was the most devastating part of my life, and it will be for the rest of my life.”

Pragyan said he and his brother always had a close relationship.

“He was the person I could depend on the most in my life. He was someone that I could share my troubles with if I had any sort of issues with school, with life, or anything, that he was the first person to know,” said Pragyan. “I just look up to him a lot. Since young, I’ve always liked what he liked. I’ve always done what he wanted to do as well.”

Pragyan said his brother dreamed of being an officer since childhood, with goals to also become a politician.

“He loved being a police officer. He would share stories all day. Anytime anybody would listen,” said Pragyan.

The Tamangs moved from Nepal to the United States when they were kids.

Pradeep earned a master’s degree in political science from the University of Akron in Ohio. He then moved to Pennsylvania where he worked as a private investigator, then a corrections officer, his brother said.

Pragyan said his brother moved to Georgia, graduated from the Gwinnett County Police Academy in 2025 and shortly after got engaged to his fiancée.

“It’s my brother’s fiancée lost her partner, her life partner. She cried earlier about how she never got to marry, he never got to have kids the life he wanted, he just started his life,” said Pragyan.

On Sunday, officers Tamang and David Reed were responding to a call about a man using a fake credit card at a Stone Mountain hotel. Police said the suspect, Kevin Andrews, shot both officers. Officer Reed is recovering in the hospital. Tamang died.

“I felt a chill on my spine,” Pragyan said when he found out.

“I was like, No, there’s no way. I kept on trying to deny it, like, Oh, it’s just a prank. They’re just trying to call everybody there maybe to see him. It just didn’t feel real at first. It still doesn’t feel real,” said Pragyan. “This is going to be something that will stick with me for my life, because it’s the person that was with me for my whole life.”

“At times I feel such sadness, and I feel anger towards like, I feel anger towards him, but like, not resentment, it’s like why couldn’t he have been okay? Like, why did he have to do what he did. But it’s what he wanted to do,” Pragyan said.

Pragyan said the Gwinnett County Police Department is holding a public service on Feb. 7 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 12Stone Church in Lawrenceville.

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