Man With Assault Rifle, Shotgun Arrested At Midtown Publix

ATLANTA — Police arrested a man Wednesday carrying an assault rifle, a shotgun and three handguns into the Publix at Atlantic Station, within a week of two deadly mass shootings.

Around 1:30 p.m., officers were called when 22-year-old Rico Marley walked into the grocery store at 1380 Atlantic Drive openly carrying the rifle and went into the restroom, according to Atlanta Police reports.

One of the initial emergency calls referred to a suspicious package believed to be explosives, but police officials said they only found clothes and other non-threatening objects inside the bag.

One witness who was in the bathroom with Marley told police he heard clicking sounds "like someone was loading firearms," according to police reports. The witness reported it to the store manager who called the police and evacuated the store.

Marley was arrested after he left the men’s room, police said, and officers confiscated a 12-gauge shotgun, an AR-15-styled assault rifle, three semi-automatic handguns, a revolver, a ballistic knife, body armor, a ski mask, two cell phones, and ammunition. All of the weapons were fully loaded when officers seized them.

Police also called paramedics to make a preliminary mental health assessment.

The incident comes just two days after 10 people, including a policeman, were shot and killed when a man armed with a pistol and a semi-automatic assault rifle walked into a grocery store in Boulder, CO. It also follows the shooting rampage of Robert Aaron Long, who confessed to shooting and killing eight people at three different massage parlors in Acworth and Atlanta on March 16.

Marley’s motives or intentions are unclear, but he was charged with five counts of criminal attempt to commit aggravated assault and six counts of weapons charges and is being held in the Fulton County Jail.