Man Makes Fake Call About Gun-Wielding Suicidal Man, Provokes Police on Wild Goose Chase

On Tuesday at 11:53 a.m., Marple police responded to the parking lot past KFC restaurant on 830 West Sproul Road for a reported incident involving an armed man with a gun, who was described to be suicidal.

According to Marple Police Chief Tom Murray, upon responding to the reported incident police received additional information about the armed man who was described to be an approximately 30-year-old white male wearing a black shirt, blue jean shorts and gray sneakers.

Murray said in addition to the description of the armed man, police received information that the man was carrying a .38-caliber handgun, a knife and a baseball bat who was threatening suicide.

According to Murray, Marple police arrived at the location of the reported incident within two minutes of receiving the call but could not locate anyone.

"There was absolutely no one fitting that description," said Murray.

For the next hour, Murray said nine different local police departments were involved in searching for the described man.

"We searched all the stores on Sproul Road, including the bowling alley [], and the apartment complex there," said Murray.

A Marple police detective was then assigned to investigate the original telephone call that reported the incident, which traced to a home in Collingdale.

Murray said Collingdale police were sent to that address to investigate.

"In the meantime, the phone number in Collingdale led us to an additional cell phone number which was traced to an apartment at 830 West Springfield Road," explained Murray.

Upon arriving to the unit at , Murray said police discovered three individuals within the unit of which one was found to be the caller of the original telephone call after interviews were made with each individual.

The caller, Alfred Floyd, 25, was placed under arrest for falsely reporting the incident to police. Murray said he is unsure why Floyd made the phone call but said the incident had stemmed from a domestic abuse issue between Floyd and one of the two males within the apartment.

"He was placed under arrest because the call was false," said Murray. "The subject didn't exist. The subject we were looking for was a phantom subject."

Editor's Note: The above information has been supplied by the Marple Police Department. The arrest and charges made to Alfred Floyd do not indicate guilt or a conviction.