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Marine arrested for making death threats at Quantico

Posted at 10:23 PM, Apr 06, 2013
and last updated 2013-04-07 09:54:31-04

QUANTICO, Va. (WTVR) — A Marine stationed at Quantico is in custody and facing a court martial after allegedly making death threats against his fellow Marines and co-workers.

Officials said Sergeant Edward Cunningham was arrested Friday night for allegedly making the threats.

High-ranking officials apparently sent Cunningham to behavioral screenings last week, after co-workers reported reported that Cunningham threatened to kill them.

A Quantico spokesperson said Cunningham worked in the communications division and was sent back to his posting after the screenings. But fellow Marines said things didn’t change and Cunningham continued to threaten them.

Some civilians near the base are glad this incident was handled before it escalated.

“I think the transparency is important,” Billy Martin, who owns a business on base, said.  “The military, sometimes, you know, they want to keep things hush-hush because you don’t want to look bad, but that’s good they were transparent and let people know.”

Quanitico officials said they take all threats of this nature very seriously, which is why they took action in this case.

This incident comes just two weeks after a Marine killed two other marines before turning the gun on himself.