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Suspect charged in shooting that injured Sullivan's Hardware employee on Indy's north side

Marqueses Tipton was arrested for his alleged involvement in a shooting Monday afternoon that left a woman injured by a stray bullet that hit her left eye.

INDIANAPOLIS — A man accused of shooting across a busy Indianapolis street Monday afternoon, injuring a Sullivan Hardware employee, appeared in court for the first time Thursday.

Prosecutors filed formal charges against 27-year-old Marqueses Tipton for one count of aggravated battery and two counts of criminal recklessness with a weapon and aggravated battery.

Prosecutors are asking that Tipton be held on $150,000 bond and objects to Tipton's release on his own recognizance, citing Tipton causing serious bodily injury to the victim, putting several innocent people — including children — at risk and utilizing during the incident.

He was seen on surveillance footage firing the gun across a busy Keystone Avenue. One stray bullet hit 64-year-old Susie Warden, who was working inside Sullivan Hardware & Garden across the street.

Just after 3:15 p.m. on Monday, IMPD North District officers responded to a report of shots fired near East 71st Street and North Keystone Avenue.

As officers responded, they were told there was a person shot inside Sullivan's. Warden was working in the Yellow House at the south end of the Sullivan property. 

“I would say it was the worst day of my life at a place I love," said Pat Sullivan, owner of Sullivan Hardware.

Officers at the scene found Warden, who had been shot near her temple and left eye. She was taken to Methodist Hospital in critical condition. 

Court documents filed Thursday show Warden had surgery on Wednesday to remove her left eye. 

"She's up, walking, talking and I think the surgery went as well as could be expected," Sullivan said.

Warden's loved ones told 13News earlier in the week she believed the shooting was a "freak occurrence" and was working to recover from the shooting.

Credit: Sorrell family
Susie Warden started working at Sullivan Hardware during the pandemic when she was looking for a way to connect with people.

Tipton later returned to the scene and told officers he was the person firing shots. Police found Tipton was armed with a 9mm handgun.

Police at the gas station across the street from Sullivan's also said the six fired cartridge casings came from a 9mm handgun.

Police then detained Tipton and later arrested him.

Detectives believe the incident started when two drivers, one being Tipton, were involved in a crash while driving southbound on North Keystone Avenue. 

Court documents show a silver SUV crashed into Tipton's car on Keystone Avenue. Aneysha Brown, who was also driving a silver SUV, said she witnessed the crash, but wasn't involved.

"I pulled into the gas station on the side of the accident," said Brown. "The man hops in his car, still yelling, pulls into the gas station as well and the lady he was yelling at is slowly driving away from the accident." 

Court documents show when police reviewed surveillance video, they discovered that the silver SUV that was involved in the accident left the area, southbound on North Keystone Avenue, prior to the shooting.

Brown says when she left the gas station, Tipton fired at her car.

"I could not believe that he was shooting at me with my baby in the car. I've never seen this man a day in my life," said Brown.

She said she wasn't involved in the crash at all but noticed the driver of the silver minivan was heated.

“I was confused as to why this random man was shooting at my car, but I came to the conclusion that my car looked similar to the car that hit him in the first place," said Brown.

Brown's vehicle was found to have two bullet holes in the rear of the vehicle, according to the arrest report.

According to court documents, Tipton said he believed Brown had a "dark, black object" in her hand which he thought was a gun and he said he felt threatened.

"That's insane. I don't even have a gun," said Brown in response to the accusation.

“My 6-year-old daughter was in the car with me," Brown said. “I just kept telling her to get down because that man from the silver van is shooting at our car, just in case she needed to be the one to tell who was shooting at our car.”

The probable cause affidavit shows Tipton's 2-year-old and 9-year-old children were in his car during the incident.

"The lady who he wanted to get, she was long gone," said Brown. "Now you've put all these people in danger. You shot a lady that was just at work."

Credit: IMPD
Marqueses Tipton, 27, of Indianapolis.

IMPD said Sullivan's Hardware was in the direct line of fire from where Tipton was shooting at the vehicle.

The driver of the third vehicle which Tipton shot at also called police, returned to the scene, and cooperated with detectives, according to IMPD.

Meanwhile, Tipton is being held on a $100,000 surety bond. His jury trial is set for June 5. 

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