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Eaton shooting victim found dead in pole barn

Police have a 'person of interest' in Mark L. Gilland's death, Delaware County's first homicide of 2014.

EATON — Police believe an Eaton man was evicting a tenant from his property when he was fatally shot Saturday afternoon.

 

Mark L. Gilland, 50, was pronounced dead at the scene of the incident, according to Delaware County Coroner Scott Hahn. Gilland’s death is the first homicide in Delaware County in 2014.
The shooting was reported at 10:25 p.m. in the 500 block of East Race Street. Eaton Town Marshal Jonathon Snodgrass said investigators preliminarily believe that Gilland, who owns the property, went to the home to evict a resident and was shot and killed while inside a pole barn.
“This appears to be a landlord-tenant dispute,” Snodgrass said.
Snodgrass and Hahn were unsure on Sunday how many times Gilland had been shot. A firearm — a “small-caliber handgun,” according to Delaware County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Greg Ellison — was found at the scene, although it was immediately unknown whether that was the weapon used in the shooting.
Snodgrass believes a man being labeled by officers as a “person of interest” in the case stole Gilland’s Chevrolet pickup truck and drove it to the Red Carpet Inn, 3400 S. Madison St., in Muncie, where he was taken into police custody early Sunday. That man’s name was not being released as of Sunday afternoon.
Ellison said Sunday police were “still investigating everything,” and “all of our guys are following up on leads and talking to people.”
Ellison said Gilland’s body was discovered at the scene by family members Saturday evening, hours after officers believe he was shot. Gilland, officers were told, had been threatened in the past by a male tenant at the East Race Street property, and “worried” family members began searching for Gilland late Saturday after he hadn’t returned home.
“I guess it’s been an ongoing dispute for a little less than a month,” Snodgrass said.
Hahn said an autopsy is expected to be performed on Gilland early this week. Funeral services are pending at Pitman-Richman Funeral Home in Eaton.
Contact reporter Andrew Walker at 765-213-5845. Follow him on Twitter @AndrewWalkerTSP.