JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville man who was shot by police and arrested on Thursday was charged with first-degree kidnapping with intent to inflict bodily harm, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and misdemeanor domestic battery, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said.
RELATED: Man shot by JSO in alleged hostage standoff had prior alcohol-related arrests, court records show
Deputies were called to a home on Eberly Drive, off St. Johns Bluff Road around 9:20 p.m. on May 14 after a woman and an infant hid in the backyard during an alleged domestic disturbance, according to the arrest report. Officers had responded to the same address earlier that day around 11:50 a.m. on a separate domestic battery call.
The report said the suspect, identified as Marcus Delay, 30, returned hours later appearing intoxicated, damaged property and at one point locked the woman out of the home while the child remained inside.
The woman, who is Delay’s fiancée and shares the infant with him, said he eventually let her back into the home, then he went outside to the front yard of the home, then walked toward a neighbor’s home. The woman then went to the backyard to hide and called police.
Before officers arrived, the suspect came out of the home and fired a rifle into the air, JSO said.
As officers approached the yard, the suspect became agitated, shouting, throwing items, and began counting down, the report said.
Officers located the woman and baby in the wooded area, according to JSO. During that time, police said Delay made verbal threats to shoot the woman and also said he planned to “kill everyone” if officers showed up.
JSO said the suspect later found the woman and officers in the wooded area and pointed a handgun at them. Two officers fired, striking the Delay.
He was taken into custody and transported to a hospital for treatment of his injuries, JSO said.
The officers who fired were identified as J. Jones and G. Comayagua. No officers were injured, as Delay never fired his handgun, JSO said.
Sheriff T.K. Waters said officers’ actions likely prevented a worse outcome.
“I believe they saved a couple of lives tonight. It is a really dangerous situation, a very intense situation. He was actively walking through, around, looking for the victim and that child and had made statements that he was going to kill everybody if she called police and if the police showed up. This was a very dangerous situation,” Waters said.
Mike Powers, a neighbor, talked about what he saw and heard.
“He shot two shots in the air, ‘who’s in my yard?’ Pop pop, ‘I gotta protect myself its my yard,’ and the next thing you know, after he shot the two shots off, it went like fireworks," Powers said.
News4JAX has learned that Delay was arrested by Oklahoma County Sheriff’s deputies in January for public drunkenness and again in February for driving under the influence, just months before the violent standoff.
Delay and his partner had recently moved to Jacksonville in the spring. According to his social media account, Delay owned a pest control company before the move.
This is the 10th officer-involved shooting involving JSO so far this year, the agency said.
The State Attorney’s Office was on scene and is investigating. After that investigation is complete, JSO will conduct its own investigation, according to the agency.
The woman and the infant were removed from the scene and were not physically injured, the report states. The woman provided officers with videos that, according to the report, showed earlier incidents of the suspect throwing objects and holding the infant.