Army veteran pleads guilty to threatening shooting rampage at Ill. VA hospital

Veteran pleads guilty in VA hospital threat case

BENTON, Ill. — An Army veteran has pleaded guilty to threatening a shooting rampage at a Veterans Affairs hospital in the southern Illinois community of Marion.

Authorities had found 29-year-old Mark Harmon with a handgun outside the VA hospital after he called a nurse and said he planned to “fill that place with lead” in October. Authorities say they found a loaded Glock 23 semiautomatic handgun, a magazine filled with 13 bullets and 13 loose rounds of ammunition in Harmon’s truck

In federal court on Friday, Harmon changed his previous not guilty plea to guilty on a charge of attempted possession of a firearm on federal property with the intent to commit a crime.

The judge has scheduled Harmon’s sentencing for April 19. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.