On September 13th at 2:03 pm, Marion Central Dispatch received multiple reports from residents regarding subjects walking between houses and carrying rifles in and around the 200 block of Elm Street. Officers responded to the area of the 200 block of Elm Street where they recovered multiple firearms. Additionally, two persons were taken into custody.
In the early stages of this investigation, Officers determined that a burglary had occurred in the 200 block of Forest Street which is one street to the East of where the guns and suspects were previously located.
Due to the proximity of these two scenes to both Grant Middle School and Benjamin Harrison Elementary and given the time of day (near end of school release time) a determination was made by the Grant Middle School SRO to place these schools into lockdown status. Although there was never any information to indicate that these suspects were on or in the immediate area of school grounds, this precautionary measure was taken early in this event when many details were still unknown. Additionally, this incident occurred within the last hour of the school day and those responsible for school security enacted this necessary measure to ensure that students were not released from school where they could potentially walk through one of these two scenes. Since the initial incident was quickly stabilized, the schools were released from lock down well before the end of the school day and the normal dismissal routine was unaffected.
Marion PD engaged in on-going communication with school officials to ensure that information was communicated in real time in order to make decisions that safeguarded nearby schools.
“We have said time and again that in so many ways, our residents are our eyes and years in the community”, said Lt. B.J. Gruber of the Marion Police Department. “Based on their quick thinking and willingness to ‘See Something Say Something’ we were able to respond quickly and bring this matter to a safe and rapid resolution”, Lt. Gruber added.
This investigation is still active and on-going.
Arrest information-
Marchellus Thompson
Age 18 of Marion
Juvenile Male
Age 17 of Marion