Michael Alexander Brown, 22, is suspected of killing his mother’s boyfriend last week. He has been on the run ever since. On Thursday morning, a sighting of the Marine deserter tapping on someone’s house window in Roanoke, Virginia prompted officials to shut down the schools in the area. Police have now asked that anyone that lives within a half mile of Patrick Henry High School on Grandin Road to shelter in place and keep their doors locked. Anyone that must travel should stay stay extremely vigilant, officials said, as they believe Brown will be looking for a new means of transportation. Brown deserted from his command at Camp Lejeune sometime in October, but only few details have been released regarding his service thus far.

According to reports, a resident contacted police when they saw a man in a black jacket tapping on a house window early this morning. Police responded immediately and, to the best of their ability, were able to confirm that it was indeed Brown, though he managed to evade capture. Brown had previously been spotted driving a Lincoln Town Car, but police identified an RV in the vicinity of the sighting that they believe Brown had been using in recent days. The RV was secured by police at the scene.

The manhunt began at around noon last Saturday, when police responded to a call in nearby Hardy, Virginia. Officers arrived to find Rodney Brown, 54, dead of a gunshot wound in his home. According to Capt. Phillip Young from the sheriff’s office, the man’s girlfriend, Michael Brown’s mother, called the police when she discovered the body.

Michael Brown was soon charged with second-degree murder and with using a firearm in the commission of a felony, though the motive for the murder has not yet been made clear. Police say Brown is armed and dangerous, likely carrying a “shoulder-held, high-capacity weapon.” According to police, he has family in the Roanoke area, which may explain how he managed to change vehicles. He is apparently an avid outdoorsman, so police believe he’d been using the RV to shelter in the nearby woods.

While Brown’s occupational specialty hasn’t been released, Roanoke Police Chief Tim Jones described Brown as a “military-trained veteran (who) knows how to navigate avenues of approach and escape, and to maneuver his way around various types of terrain.”

“He is navigationally savvy,” the chief continued. “He’s not afraid to change his location. He’s not afraid to change his look.”
The U.S. Marshall service is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to his apprehension.

“We can do this the easy way,” Jones told the press. “He may at this point and time feel like he has run out of alternatives, but he does have alternatives.”