MACON, Ga. — Warrants issued by the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office identified the man who led several law enforcement agencies on a nearly five-hour manhunt.
17-year-old Z’yon Rahquez Hardwick was arrested and charged with carrying a weapon on school grounds and criminal street gang activity.
He is a known member of the OTS Street Gang in Macon, according to warrants
Hardwick was carrying a Bushmaster .223 rifle, a type of assault rifle, according to the warrant. It is the same type of firearm used in some mass shootings in the United States including at Sandy Hook in Newtown, Conn..
The warrant says Hardwick was in the passenger seat of a black Toyota before he ran into the woods. No shots were fired according to Sheriff David Davis.
“We are very fortunate there was no gunfire or any violence on the school campus,” Davis said Wednesday night. “I would much rather do a manhunt into the darkness than work an active-shooter situation.”
An additional warrant was taken out for an Oct. 7 incident. Hardwick allegedly posted an Instagram photo of him in the Westside High School parking lot holding what looked like a Colt M4 carbine firearm.
According to the warrant, the caption seemed to refer to the July 29 killing of Jimmy Scott in front of the Goodfellas Barber Shop.
The warrant said Scott was a member of the “Mafia Gang.” He was killed by Adolphus Hughes Jr., a fellow OTS gang member, investigators say,
Hardwick was picked up and confirmed it was a real weapon in the Instagram photo, the warrant says. It says his post was meant to be “disrespectful” towards Scott and the rival gang.