Man accused of threatening to shoot into crowd during Tri-State festival

FRANKLIN, Ohio (WXIX) - A man has been arrested after he allegedly threatened to shoot into the crowd at Franklin’s Fall Festival in October.

Gregory Phillips is facing charges of making a terroristic threat and making false alarms, court records show.

Franklin police say they were made aware on Sept. 23 of a threat by an unknown man to shoot people during the fall festival, according to the police report.

Officer Shannon Cotton spoke with the co-owner of Fur Ree Friends, Charles Lynch, who said he and a friend were walking outside the store the week prior when they were approached by a man, the report said.

According to the report, Lynch told Officer Cotton he didn’t know the man, but had spoken to him several times and had had him do odd jobs for cash.

The report also said that Lynch also thought the man was homeless.

Lynch said when he was first approached by the man he was rambling but then calmed down, Officer Cotton wrote in the report.

“Lynch stated the male then told him his life as been a living hell for the past 10 years but Jesus came to him in a dream and told him the Lord had made a place for him and he had to prove to everyone that he was not wrong,” according to the report.

“Lynch said the man pulled three bullets out of his pocket and said he was going to get a gun and soon everyone at the festival will know who he is,” the report said.

Lynch said he believed the man was talking about the Fall Festival, according to the police report.

“Lynch said the male then told him he was going to stand at the corner of 4th and Main streets to shoot into the crowd until the police shot him,” Officer Cotton wrote in the report.

In an attempt to identify the man, the police report says an officer thought about homeless people the department deals with frequently in the downtown area and the only person the officer said he could think of was Gregory Phillips.

Lynch was asked to look at Phillips’ BMV photo to try to identify him but Lynch was unsure if Phillips was the man who allegedly made the threat.

Lynch was unsure so officers showed him the most recent mug shot of Phillips and then Lynch said he was “110% positive that Gregory was our suspect,” the report said.

The court records do not say why Phillips allegedly mentioned the Fall Festival specifically.

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