Grand Jury Indicts St. Louis Man Accused Of Firing Machine Gun At Officers

From the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Missouri:

October 8, 2020

ST. LOUIS, MO – On October 7, 2020, a federal grand jury indicted Marc Harold Taylor, II, alleging that Taylor knowingly possessed destructive devices, a cannon and a machine gun, that were not registered to him in the National Firearms and Transfer Record. Taylor is also charged with one count of possession of a machine gun. The 28 year old is a resident of St. Louis.

According to court documents, on September 10, 2020, officers from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department answered a shots fired call in the 4700 block of Kossuth. Upon arrival, Taylor started firing at the officers with a fully automatic machine gun, but the officers were not injured. Officers returned fire and were able to apprehend Taylor. The machine gun was recovered at the Taylor’s feet. Officers searched Taylor’s residence and recovered a homemade cannon device along with black powder and hobby fuses. The machine gun and homemade cannon are depicted below:

The counts of possessing a destructive device carry a penalty of up to 10 years of imprisonment and a fine of $10,000; and the count of possessing a machine gun carries a penalty of up to 10 years of imprisonment and a fine of $250,000.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated this case with the assistance of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives'. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Davis is handling the case.

Charges set forth in the indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

This press release was produced by the US Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Missouri. The views expressed here are the author’s own.