Officials announced Saturday that a man wanted in connection with the shooting of four people Friday in an Ohio neighborhood has been captured in Kansas.
Police in Butler Township, Montgomery County, north of Dayton, said officers were called to the area shortly before Friday afternoon upon reports of shootings. Butler Township Police Chief John Porter said four victims with gunshot wounds were found at “multiple crime sites” and all were pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said they were looking for 39-year-old Stephen Marlowe, who is believed to have fled the area in a 2007 white Ford Edge. FBI kept marlowe on his Most Wanted list early Saturday, stating that he has ties to Indianapolis, Chicago and Lexington, Kentucky. His last known address was in Dayton, the FBI said.
Porter confirmed at a news briefing Saturday night that Marlowe was captured in Lawrence, Kansas, which is about 600 miles west of Butler Township. He did not provide any details about how Marlowe was captured.
“We want to thank the general public for all their assistance,” Porter said.
The names of the victims have yet to be released and Porter said it was not immediately clear what led to the shooting.
“We are working to determine whether there is a motive for this horrific tragedy or whether mental illness played a role,” Porter said at a news conference on Friday. He called the shooting “the first violent crime in this neighborhood in recent memory”.
The Dayton Daily News reports that according to Montgomery County Court records, Marlowe received probation in February 2019 on aggravated theft and aggravated felony charges from a July 2019 incident in the Dayton suburb of Vandalia.
As a precaution after the shooting, Vandalia closed several public areas on Saturday, including the recreation center, the Castle Hills golf course and pool, and the city’s senior citizens center, the newspaper reported.
Court documents do not list the attorney representing Marlowe; A message seeking comment was left on a number listed in his name on Saturday.
