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Investigators: Marion County man bought several guns, sold them to juveniles

MARION COUNTY, Fla. — A Marion County man bought several guns and then sold them to young people who couldn’t buy them on their own, investigators say.

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Officers said some of the weapons have been involved in shootings.

Ocala police have located some of the guns when making arrests for different crimes. One of the guns found was in possession of a man who is a person of interest in several shootings, including a homicide.

Federal ATF agents have nabbed 22-year-old Marques Young for buying 11 guns over a 16-month period. Most of them were handguns from a Rural King store in Ocala.

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Records show that while at the store, Young signed a federal form indicating he was buying for himself.

However, investigators said he was selling the guns to juveniles and others who couldn’t or didn’t want to buy firearms on their own. Ocala police have recovered five of the 11 guns in possession of other people in situations related to criminal activity.

A rifle was found on a man suspected in several shootings, including the January fatal shooting on Northwest 6th Street of 19-year-old Ferron Williams who liked to hang out in the neighborhood behind the Hardee’s and use free Wi-Fi.

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Young told investigators he usually doesn’t stay in contact with people he sells the guns to and doesn’t know where the guns are.

Ocala police said if anyone knows of any person providing firearms to juveniles, they should contact law enforcement immediately.

Young is out on bond as he awaits trial. He is on home detention with GPS monitoring.

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Jeff Deal

Jeff Deal, WFTV.com

I joined the Eyewitness News team as a reporter in 2006.

Adam Poulisse, WFTV.com

Adam Poulisse joined WFTV in November 2019.