UPDATE: Teen arrested in connection to deadly shooting near Springfield Soup Kitchen

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield police have arrested a 19-year-old in connection to the deadly shooting near the Springfield Soup Kitchen Wednesday morning, police announced Thursday afternoon.

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Joshua Tackett, 37, was identified as the person killed in the area of West Main Street and North Jackson Street around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Markeese Brown, 19, surrendered to police late Wednesday and was arrested on suspicion of tampering with evidence, carrying a concealed weapon, and discharging a firearm into a habitation, police said.

“Springfield Police Division investigators are working with the Clark County Prosecutor’s Office to determine what additional charges may be brought in the case,” police said in a statement.

Police records showed that security footage showed Brown running through an alley approximately four blocks from the scene. An officer also found a dark jacket with white writing, as described by witnesses, two blocks away from Brown’s residence.

Records showed that Brown called Springfield City Dispatch at 11:25 p.m. on Wednesday and stated that he wanted to turn himself in. Police responded to the area he said he was at and police took him into custody without incident.

Brown told police that the gun he used was nearby in a shopping cart. Police found it and submitted it into evidence.

When back at police headquarters, police said Brown admitted to firing a gun into the tent and then did leave the area with the gun in his possession.

Springfield Police investigators taped off the soup kitchen parking lot and the area around four to five tents on the property, while they investigated the shooting.

Lt. Lou Turner, from the Springfield Police Division, said this happened at a homeless camp.

“It’s a tight-knit community. The homeless, they hang out there and try to survive together,” Turner said. “It’s scary for them.”

Neighbors said some people living nearby have felt unsafe.

“They shouldn’t be allowed to stay there,” said Norma Jean Webb, who lives in the neighborhood. “It scared me. I didn’t know what was going on.”

Medics that arrived on scene pronounced Tackett dead at the scene, a Springfield police dispatch supervisor told News Center 7.

Detectives and crime scene investigator units responded to the scene.

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