A Gwinnett County man has been arrested and charged with carrying a weapon into an unauthorized location after police say he tried to enter the DeKalb County courthouse with a loaded pistol.
Marcus Payton, 27, of Lawrenceville, was taken into custody by DeKalb sheriff’s deputies at the downtown Decatur courthouse Wednesday afternoon, sheriff’s office spokeswoman Cynthia Williams said in a news release. The X-ray system at the building’s security checkpoint revealed a loaded Glock 45 in Payton’s backpack, Williams said.
Payton was taken to the DeKalb Jail, where he is being held without bond, according to jail records.
The arrest comes at a time when law enforcement agencies have become especially wary of the potential for violent crime. The metro Atlanta area suffered its worst mass shooting in nearly two decades when a lone gunman allegedly shot and killed eight people at three different spas in March. That deadly spree turned global attention toward Atlanta, where violent crime has surged for more than a year.
The courthouse arrest is reminiscent of another incident that held the potential for terrible violence. Just days after a gunman opened fire in a Boulder, Colorado, grocery store, killing 10, a 22-year-old man was apprehended while carrying six guns and body armor in a Publix at Atlantic Station.
The man, identified as Rico Marley, was charged with 11 counts, including five counts of criminal attempt to commit a felony and six counts of possessing a weapon during an attempt to commit a felony, jail records show. He remains in the Fulton County Jail without bond.
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