Marquan
Cunningham-Carper
A 19-year-old, who has been arrested at least twice before, has been charged with shooting someone in the city this spring.
District Attorney Jason Schmidt and Jamestown Police Department have jointly announced that a secret indictment authorized by the Chautauqua County Grand Jury was unsealed this week charging Marquan Cunningham-Carper of Jamestown with first-degree assault and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon from the May 8 shooting in Jamestown.
A male, whose name or age was not released, was shot around 12:30 a.m. in the area of North Hopkins Avenue and East Second Street.
In late May, city police issued a photo captured from a video recording, seeking the public’s help. At the time of the news release, police said the victim had been released from the hospital and was expected to recover from his injuries.
At his arraignment Tuesday, Cunningham-Carper entered a plea of not guilty and County Court Judge David W. Foley set bail at $1 million cash or, in the alternative, a $2 million property bond or $2 million partially secured by the posting of 10%.
Following the arraignment, Schmidt stated, “Every single shooting incident and illegal possession and use of a gun in our community hurts us all. This instance – the indiscriminate shooting in the backside of a young man who was merely walking home after shopping at a nearby store – says it all about where we stand as a community and the police’s ongoing fight, in which they are outgunned and outnumbered, to keep us safe and rid our streets of violent offenders. Today’s unsealing of the indictment against Mr. Cunningham-Carper is just the first step in the litigation which lies ahead for us. From the moment of the first 9-1-1 call received by Jamestown Police, its investigators along with ours at the DA’s Office have worked diligently to develop evidence identifying the shooter and allowing us to move forward with this prosecution. We elected to bring our investigation into the Grand Jury due to the seriousness of the crimes committed here and our concerns for public safety, but the investigation still continues and we anticipate developing further evidence enhancing the case.”
Cunningham-Carper faces a maximum prison term of 25 years followed by 5 years of parole supervision. He will return to court on July 21.
“I urge anyone with information concerning the shooting to contact Jamestown Police or my office,” Schmidt said.
While the indictment was unsealed on Monday, Cunningham-Carper had been arrested later in May on drug charges.
Jamestown Police conducted a street check of Cunningham-Carper in front of Pronto Mart located at 631 Newland Ave. around 1:40 p.m. May 20. Cunningham-Carper was taken into custody on an arrest warrant for third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance. Just prior to being detained, Cunningham-Carper was allegedly observed discarding a baggie that contained approximately 4.25 ounces of fentanyl pills.
A search warrant was obtained and the Jamestown Metro Drug Task Force and Southern Tier Regional Drug Task Force executed the warrant at Marquan’s residence located at 15 Columbia Ave., lower apartment, with assistance from the Jamestown Police Department SWAT Team. Entry was made into the apartment and nobody else was located inside.
A search of the apartment and Cunningham-Carper resulted in the additional seizure of a quantity of Lorazepam pills, digital scales, cutting agents, $550, cell phones, a .38 Special revolver, and a high capacity pistol magazine.
In addition to the arrest warrant, Cunningham-Carper was charged with second-, third-, and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, two counts of criminally using drug paraphernalia and second- and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
Cunningham-Carper was also arrested last year in an alleged assault.
On May 14, 2024, Jamestown police officers responded to a reported assault at 8:15 p.m. near the intersection of Newland and Forest avenues. Carper-Cunningham, who was 18 at the time, got into a verbal argument with another person and, during the argument, allegedly shot the person with whom he was arguing in the face with a flare gun while surrounded by several other people.
The unnamed other person in the argument was injured.
Jamestown police said Carper-Cunningham ran from the scene after the flare gun shooting. After an investigation a warrant was issued for Carper-Cunningham’s arrest, and he was found the next day by officers on a routine patrol. Carper-Cunningham was taken to the city jail pending arraignment.
In a phone interview Tuesday, Schmidt said they were unable to prosecute that case because the witnesses declined to cooperate.
