While teachers were gearing up for the impending school year at West Marion Primary Thursday morning, 76-year-old Timothy Ward of Foxworth entered the school with what looked like a revolver and started firing shots when teachers recognized he didn’t belong. No one was injured in the unprovoked attack, and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the weapon to be an air soft gun after Ward was taken into custody.
Ward allegedly walked into the school at 7:20 a.m. and brandished what looked to be a real gun when he was surrounded by teachers who tried to escort him out of the building. He then held two members of the staff against their will.
At approximately 7:27 a.m., as law enforcement was entering the premises, one of the school’s janitors tackled Ward from behind and ended the threat.
“Nine times out of ten the janitor hides in the mop closet,” Capt. Pete Williams said. “He’s the man!”
Williams added it reminds him of Proverbs 28:1, "The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, But the righteous are bold as a lion."
“The primary (school) has its lion,” Williams added.
Marion County Sheriff Berkley Hall said the personnel at the school believed it to be a real gun initially, and the initial dispatch call relayed an active gunman. Several members of the staff believed it to be an active shooter situation and followed protocol.
“They went in, barricaded and turned off lights. We had some that we had to go in and get out of closets because they wouldn’t come out,” Hall said.
Ward has been charged with terroristic threat law and two counts of kidnapping. He was loaded onto a stretcher around 8:30 a.m. and taken to the hospital for treatment before being booked into the Marion County Regional Correctional Facility.
The sheriff’s office and the Columbia Police Department went room to room once the suspect was apprehended and cleared the school of all threats. They were assisted by both Marion County constables, Robbie Gill and Krae Morgan; an agent with the state auditor’s office; Marion County School District security resource officers and Homeland Security.
