UPDATE 5/20/24 6:15 p.m.
MECOSTA COUNTY — MSP has identified the suspect as Timothy Paul Solomon.
He has been arraigned on several assault and weapon charges, including intent to murder.
5/20/24 9:20 a.m.
MECOSTA COUNTY — Troopers from the Michigan State Police Mt. Pleasant Post and Mecosta County Sheriff’s deputies were sent to the Green Township Hall in Paris on Saturday afternoon around 2 p.m. for a report of a man wielding a machete.
Officials said a man - identified as a 36-year-old from Hersey - shattered the glass of the front door of the hall with a machete and then proceeded to an open side door and made entry into the building where a graduation party was being held.
He began waving the machete while making many statements including that “everyone was going to hell,” officials said.
Three people from the graduation party confronted the man and were able to use a chair to push the man out of the building, officials said.
The man left prior to law enforcement arrival and proceeded to drive onto the lawn of the Mecosta County Sheriff’s Office, officials said. A corrections officer approached him and the male began threatening the officer by wielding the machete, officials said.
Big Rapids City Police arrived on scene, and both the corrections officer and city police officers were able to safely subdue the man and arrest him, officials said. He was sent to the Mecosta County jail pending multiple felony charges.
No one was injured in either of the incidents.
The Mecosta County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident on the corrections officer, and the MSP Mt. Pleasant Post is investigating the graduation party incident.