Baltimore City police arrested a man wanted on an attempted murder charge who had entered an Anne Arundel high school Wednesday, triggering a lockdown in that school and seven others in the area.
Officers found 20-year-old Antonio Moore, of Baltimore, with a stolen car on Holbrook Street at around 1:30 p.m. Thursday, according to police.
Anne Arundel police had searched for Moore since early Saturday, when authorities say he shot 21-year-old Michael Jay Francis with an assault weapon before stuffing Francis in the trunk of another stolen car and driving away. That car was found later, along with Francis? bloody clothes in the trunk, but Francis is still missing, police said.
Francis was convicted of a drug distribution charge in Anne Arundel on Feb. 27 and sentenced to three years in prison with all but four months suspended, according to court records. He was then given credit for time served while awaiting trial and released.
“We believe he’s very seriously injured, and the longer it takes us to find him, the less likely it is we’re going to find him alive,” saidLt. David Waltemeyer of the Anne Arundel police.
Moore resurfaced briefly Wednesday morning in the lobby of North County High School, saying he was supposed to meet a student. He left after speaking to a school resource officer who didn?t immediately recognize who he was.
Within minutes, school surveillance cameras confirmed that the man was Moore and the school was locked down while police searched the area. Students could not leave classrooms, and frightened parents were not allowed to get to their children.
With Moore still at large Thursday morning, county police assigned more than a dozen officers to schools in the northern part of the county to tighten security, Waltemeyer said.
Attendance at Northern County High School was 84 percent Thursday, about 4 percent lower than average, county schools spokesman Bob Mosier said.
Police still searched Thursday afternoon for Moore?s girlfriend, Sierra Monet Anderson, of Baltimore, as a possible witness in the shooting, Waltemeyer said. Officials were also concerned for her safety.
Anyone with information concerning the whereabouts of Anderson or Francis is encouraged to call Anne Arundel police at 410-222-8610.
