on March 21st 2024 officers were called
about a fonus assault where a gun was
fired at an AT&T worker in Cleveland
Heights Ohio before they can apprehend
the suspect officers speak to the AT&T
worker and the house owner he was
working at to get the full story and to
discover the suspect's whereabouts my
little Shen but I'm okay where where did
it happen basement I was cornered in the
basement he kept looking at me funny the
whole time I walked through the door and
I didn't think nothing of it you know I
went out start working in um I'm I'm
cornered in the basement and I hear a
loud shot and you know I start ducking
and I hear him run up the stairs okay
and that's that's all I know okay you
weren't shuck or nothing right no I
wasn't hit okay would you be willing to
do a statement for him uh yeah I will
but let me let me call my manager let
him know's going gra my phone corre
that's my grandson your grandson grandon
he did leave the house correct yeah yeah
he did I he um about how long ago uh
about about 20 minutes ago went this he
went that he went that way said about 15
20 minutes ago left towards the park I
thought it was a firecracker I didn't
know what it was you said about 20
minutes ago yeah is the do you know if
the firearm is still here no I mean I
didn't even know no he it's not here he
did you hear a gunshot or anything yeah
I did I heard I said oh why was that
right are we are are we able to come in
to where he shot at
yeah the officers discover the homeowner
where the shooting took place is the
suspect's OWN grandmother due to him
still being on the loose and possibly
armed he is in extreme danger to the
surrounding public they attempt to get
information about where he might be from
the grandmother ma'am does he drive does
he have a vehicle he doesn't have no are
you sure he left the house oh yeah yeah
he's gone he stayed here look what's his
name his name is markk markk Thomas
Thomas I had I had him to spend the
night here because he smokes marijuana
and I think that he might have he might
have he said that he smokes marijuana
cuz he's got Goa does he have any mental
health issues or anything like that see
that's
what right here is where I heard it I
said oh what was that he said gun shot
did he shoot upwards downward I mean do
we know that it looked like he said he
shot through a a duck he oh my God shot
through the duck look at that kind
appointment so so you saw him right
right he walked he he walked right
across the tree lawn so you didn't see
if he crossed the street or okay 51 all
units uh caller didn't see which way he
went exactly just that he went towards
the park even with a 20-minute time
delay officers urgently checked the
nearby park for the
suspect he's walking towards the
community center yeah I see him over
here he's wearing a green wife beater
orange
pants put your hands up put your hands
upo lay down lay down flat lay down flat
wind your out are out with the mail
c yeah I got
you bro don't
move we got one
detain all right man I'm P down make
sure got no weapons on you all right
roll over there you
go all right roll over to the other side
bro have a problem
oddly enough officers find no weapon on
the suspect meaning they are still
missing a key piece of evidence kickle
up LIF up about to get you
up go to this car right here
okay go and get in
man myself and lch are going to check
the park for the jacket okay got yep
yeah this is going to be him uh we don't
need a victim ID right this this aown
party correct all right ready mhm since
officers confirm this is indeed Mark
Thomas the suspect they're looking for
this leads them to believe that Mark
dumped his belongings in the park the
incident report also indicates that the
temperature at the time was only 22° F
combining this with the fact that Mark
was only wearing a tank top and pants
officers can infer that he likely took
off whatever jacket he was wearing and
dumped it in the woods along with the
firearm he used used to shoot at the at&
worker hey man I'm not going to ask you
no question I just want to know are you
Mark Thomas okay all right man so here's
the deal like I said I'm not going to
ask you no questions or nothing I want
you to incriminate yourself we're just
taking it back to the station so you can
be interviewed by a couple detectives
fair enough all right so where you
where' you see
that he's either going to be when I saw
him I was just turning in and he was
near the corner here so he could either
come from the park in the woods but he
was already on the path at that point
okay back at the grandmother's house
officers get more information about the
incident and Mark's behavior from the
victim himself and the grandmother stood
here staring at just staring at me
wherever I want he just just star was
just following you around the house huh
was he just following you around the
house or just follow he just followed me
down the basement asked she asked me to
show him where the basement was but I
had no she had no idea what was going on
Lord I knew his his father said he's
having a mental breakdown yeah that's
what you were saying and and
he God have mercy okay so we did I don't
know if you did see but there was a uh
uh an entry an entry and I don't know if
it exited out the back my partner was
downstairs through the uh through the uh
furnace stuffed oh yeah so were you you
were over in that area I was over back
back I can show you where I was all I
heard was a loud shot and know was a gun
shot okay but so that's where the bullet
but yeah that would yeah he came close
to I was right here look following the
the phone line yeah following the line
okay I didn't I still didn't find the
actual uh bullet check yeah well no it's
a exit for sure you can see the exit but
I haven't found an actual bullet
check oh you know what is that oh you
found it yep officers now begin their
search for Mark's belongings that he may
have dumped in the nearby Park police
are especially concerned since children
frequent the park and they don't want
the gun to discovered by a kid cat's
going to check around here and then uh
well we don't know if he went through
the woods right we don't know but he uh
may have ditched it
so he said he he some around the corner
here but he's not sure if he like toss
his gun or if he toss his hoodie so he's
got he's only wearing a pank top
the
hoodie there we
go still missing something we had it oh
no yeah we got um the gun gun magazine
book bag everything
so grab a
bag among Mark's dumped belongings was a
black hoodie A Smith and& Wesson 380
handgun the magazine for the handgun
another sweatshirt and a beige back pack
with keys a charging cord and a fantas
soda inside even though Mark had
initially complied with the officers his
behavior would soon drastically change
when he first arrived at the jail he
admitted to having controlled substances
in his back pocket to the officer
transporting him the officer then
collected three pieces of a blue unknown
substance Mark himself admitted that it
was methamphetamine and that he ingested
it 30 minutes prior the officer observed
that Mark's tongue and lips were blue
confirming those remarks the suspected
methamphetamine was weighed at 3.3 g a
gunshot residue kit was also collected
from Mark during questioning regarding
this item he admitted to firing a gun
that same day the next morning an
officer monitoring the jail noticed
suspicious activity by Mark in his cell
the officer proceeded to investigate and
when he opened the cell door Mark
immediately stood in front of the
officer after telling him to back up
Mark said I don't with cops and charged
at the officer he lunged forward with
arms extended and fought with the
officer he struck the officer in the
back of the head twice with a closed
right fist the officer was able to get
behind Mark and hold him behind his
waist Mark then reached back and
attempted to dig his fingertips and
Nails into the back of the officer's
head he struck the officer four
additional times in the head with a
closed right Fist and once with a closed
left fist before getting him back in the
cell and closing the door after this
incident it was determined that Mark
needed to be moved to the detox cell
when officers attempted to do this he
resisted and officers had to control his
legs and arms to keep him from striking
officers after gaining control over Mark
he was moved to a chair to be checked
out by EMS due to the amount of fighting
that ensued it was then determined that
Mark should be evaluated because his
heart rate was so high he was
transported to university hospital and
while there were no further incidents he
continued screaming and was sedated
charges against Mark include felonius
assault discharging a firearm assault on
a police officer and methamphetamine
possession as part of a plea agreement
he was sentenced to a minimum of 4 and
A2 years in prison and a maximum of 6
years in prison while also having to
surrender his firearm