PICTURED: Shocking haul of assault rifle, shotgun and handguns and body armor after man, 22, is arrested for taking six guns and body armor into a Publix supermarket in Atlanta
- Rico Marley, 22, was arrested by Atlanta authorities on Wednesday afternoon
- He was charged with reckless conduct and is being held in Fulton County Jail
- Police said he entered the Atlanta Station Publix with five guns and body armor
- He was carrying two long guns and three pistols, authorities said in statement
- Police said Marley has been charged with reckless conduct and taken to jail
A new photo reveals the arsenal of weapons a man was carrying after he walked into a Publix supermarket on Wednesday armed with an AR-15, a shotgun, four handguns and body armor.
Rico Marley, 22, has been arrested and charged with reckless conduct after he had been detained earlier in the day, cops said. He is being held in Fulton County Jail.
A spokesperson for the Atlanta Police Department told DailyMail.com that a witness at the Atlanta Station Publix saw the 22-year-old man, who has been identified by police as enter the store carrying a rifle.
The witness ‘alerted store management who then notified police’ just after 1.30pm.
A new photo reveals the arsenal of weapons a man was carrying after he walked into a Publix supermarket on Wednesday armed with an AR-15, a shotgun, four handguns and body armor
Atlanta authorities detained a man Wednesday afternoon after he walked into a Publix supermarket (pictured with police cars outside) with five guns and body armor
A spokesperson for the Atlanta Police Department told DailyMail.com that a witness at the Atlanta Station Publix saw the 22-year-old man enter the store with the weapons and ‘alerted store management who then notified police’ just after 1.30pm
Upon arrival, officers met with management who ‘stated a male armed with a rifle entered the location’ and went straight to the bathroom.
Charles Russell, who saw the man in the bathroom, told WSB-TV that he immediately notified workers at the store after he ‘saw an AR-15’ assault rifle, which Marley allegedly made no effort to conceal.
‘You know, this kind of startled me, again with the events that just recently happened in the grocery store up in Colorado,’ Russell said.
‘I went to the clerk at the customer service desk working at the time and let them know. It wasn’t acted upon right away. It was actually taken a little more lightly than I thought it would be, especially with the recent events.’
Responding officers said they saw Marley trying to quickly leave the bathroom before he was detained.
‘During the investigation, officers recovered 5 firearms and body armor from the male’s possession, 2 long guns and 3 pistols,’ the statement from the department reads.
Upon arrival, officers (police car pictured) met with management who ‘stated a male armed with a rifle entered the location’ and went straight to the bathroom. Marley was detained a short time later and has been charged with reckless conduct, police said
Grady EMS conducted a mental health evaluation on the man at the scene.
Police did not say if the man is licensed to carry. It’s also unclear why he entered the store with all of the weapons, though Georgia is an open-carry state.
No other information was immediately available as police continue the investigation.
Meanwhile, authorities also said that they are currently investigating a suspicious package that was at the same Publix supermarket.
Police did not say if Marley also left the package at the store.
Atlantic Drive, a main street running in front of the store, was closed to traffic.
Shoppers were being turned away as they approached the grocery store, but there were still plenty of people milling about the open-air mall.
The incident comes just two days after a gunman killed 10 people, including a police officer, at a King Soopers supermarket in Boulder, Colorado,
It also comes just a little over a week after a gunman killed eight people, mostly Asian Americans, in Atlanta.