MARION, Ind. — A man is under arrest for allegedly attacking three people with a long sword, killing two, at a home in Marion.
According to the Marion Police Department, officers were sent to a home that contained nine sleeping units on W. 1st Street on Sunday night at around 6:40 p.m. for a report of a man yelling for the police.
On scene, officers discovered that 37-year-old Jonathan Lewis Dischner had allegedly used a long sword to attack three people at the home.
Neighbor Wendell Maggard said he had no idea anything happened until he saw the lights from police outside of the home.
“There really wasn’t a commotion until afterward,” said Maggard. “We laid there and watched a movie, we didn’t even know that there was a disturbance.”
The Grant County Coroner’s Office confirmed two victims were pronounced dead at the scene, suffering from injuries consistent with stab wounds. The two men killed were identified by officials as Michael Sandlin, 34, and Dennis Johnson, 63.
Police said both Sandlin and Johnson had been staying at the home in separate rooms.
A third man also was injured in the attack and taken to a hospital where he was described as having a “severe laceration.”
Maggard said, “Your first thought is, whoa, is there danger outside?”
According to police, Dischner was arrested at the scene, without incident, and booked into the Grant County Jail on preliminary charges of two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.
Police said detectives did not speak with Dischner at the scene of the murder and are not sure what led to the attack.
Although Maggard said he recognizes crime can happen anywhere, to have something so violent happen so close to home has been shocking.
“We are downtown. You know, this is a good spot. This is not a bad town, not a bad city. You don’t have things like this happen all the time,” he said.
Maggard said he doesn’t know his neighbors personally, but added he didn’t know of any issues at that residence previously.
“The house across the street, I didn’t know them personally, they didn’t cause any ruckus, they didn’t bother no one,” he said. “It’s just crazy to know that it just happened across the street, within your view.”
While police have not confirmed the relationship between the suspect and victims, records show that both Dischner and the two men killed both lived at the residence. The third victim, who survived and remains hospitalized, is reportedly the homeowner.
Maggard, along with other neighbors who spoke with FOX59 on Monday, expressed their sympathies for those impacted by Sunday’s double murder.
“No matter whose life it is it’s sad. It’s a sad as if it were a loved one, someone close to you, even a stranger. Just the fact of the matter, no matter who it is,” said Maggard. “My condolences to the family. I’m sorry for anyone who ever has to go through anything like this. It’s terrible. It’s sad.”
Jail records show Dischner is being held without bond. Formal charges have not yet been filed in the case.
Autopsies for both men killed are scheduled to be performed at the Northeast Indiana Forensic Center.
Police said this remains an ongoing investigation and ask anyone with information to call the Marion Police Criminal Investigation Division at (765) 668-4417.
