Man assaulted, held people at gunpoint at Speedway beauty school, report alleges

SPEEDWAY — A man was arrested last week on allegations he assaulted and threatened to shoot a group of people at a cosmetology school while he was armed with a gun.

Gregory Duncan faces a total of 13 charges stemming from the encounter, including intimidation, criminal recklessness, battery and domestic battery.

During the encounter, Duncan threatened to "shoot (the victims) in the face" and threatened to "air this place out" before the women were able to subdue him, a police report alleges.

The disturbance took place about noon Friday and stemmed from a domestic situation between Duncan and one of the women at the business, Empire Beauty School, according to the report.

Speedway police were dispatched about 12:09 p.m. to the business, located at 5750 A. Crawfordsville Road, for a report that a man was inside pointing a handgun at women and assaulting them.

An investigation found Duncan was arguing with one of the women inside when someone intervened. In response, Duncan shoved her and grabbed her by an apron wrapped around her neck, the report alleges.

Someone else then tried to pull Duncan off that person, at which point he struck her in the face several times, according to the report.

A struggle ensued and Duncan's t-shirt was ripped off, revealing he was carrying a gun in his waistband. Duncan then drew the gun and "made a sweeping motion with it and pointed it at everyone in the store," the report alleges.

Duncan then took the firearm out of the business and gave it to someone in a vehicle waiting outside. The driver took off shortly afterward.

Meanwhile, people inside locked the woman targeted by Duncan inside another room. When Duncan returned, he went to that room and kicked the door down, the report alleges.

Duncan then yelled, "I'm going to shoot you in the face" and "I'm going to beat your ass just like I did this morning," the report alleges.

It was at that point someone was able to grab Duncan, pull him into another room, and subdue him until police arrived, according to the report.

The CEO of Empire Beauty School Frank Schoeneman says they closed on Friday after the incident. In addition, he also praised the work of his staff and the training models they have in place.

“The purpose of that is so that people know how to de-escalate and immediately call the police. This is something that they are not only trained for they are prepared for,” Schoeneman said.

Schoeneman adds that the school has also brought in counseling for the staff to help deal with Friday's incident. In addition, he adds that a security guard will be in place for the foreseeable future.

“If I don’t think anybody doesn’t review an incident like this and say, what can we do," Schoeneman said. "You can’t stop somebody from walking in as a normal person. You can’t stop them from walking into your school the question is what happens when they act inappropriately.”

Everyone injured during the encounter declined medical attention at the scene.

Duncan was later placed in a holding cell, where he broke a surveillance camera and threw half of its broken lens into a toilet. He then took the other half of the lens and began to sharpen it and scratch a metal bench inside the cell, according to the report.

On Wednesday, the Marion County Prosecutor charged Duncan with the following:

• Intimidation where the defendant draws or uses a deadly weapon — three counts
• Criminal recklessness committed with a deadly weapon — three counts
• Domestic battery — one count
• Battery resulting in bodily injury — two counts
• Criminal mischief — one count
• Battery — one count
• Intimidation where threat is to commit a forcible felony — two counts

He's being held on $120,000 bond and is scheduled for a jury trial Dec. 1 at Marion Superior Court, court records show.

WRTV Reporter Adam Schumes contributed to this report.