Just two days after a man opened fire and killed 10 people in a Boulder, Colorado supermarket, Atlanta police have detained a 22-year-old man who walked into a local Publix armed with several guns.
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, on Wednesday (March 24), police were called to the grocery store after a manager alerted them that man had walked into the building armed with a rifle. The man, who has been identified as Rico Marley, walked straight into the bathroom. “A witness observed the male and alerted store management, who then notified police,” Officer Anthony Grant, Atlanta police spokesman, told the outlet.
Officers quickly arrived at the scene and spotted the man exiting the bathroom. He was immediately detained and police found several weapons on him, including three pistols and two long guns.
Marley was interviewed by paramedics and given a psychiatric evaluation. Authorities are still working to find out why he brought so many weapons inside the grocery store. So far, he has been charged with reckless conduct.
Charles Russell, an Instacart delivery worker, says he saw Marley inside the restroom with the guns and immediately alerted the manager, who then called 911. “I seen an AR-15,” he told Channel 2 Action News. “[That] kind of startled me with the events that recently happened in the grocery store up in Colorado.”
A Publix spokeswoman released a statement saying that the safety of employees and customers is their main priority. “We are cooperating with local law enforcement on an incident that occurred earlier today in our Atlantic Station store,” Nicole Krauss wrote in a statement. “We are thankful that there were no injuries and all were able to exit the store safely. The store is currently closed.”
Earlier this week, 21-year-old Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa shot and killed 10 people at the King Soopers supermarket in Boulder, Colorado. He is currently being charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder.