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Stray bullet in road rage shooting hit cashier’s face, Indiana cops say. Man convicted

The Yellow House, an Indianapolis gift and home goods store owned by Sullivan Hardware & Garden, where a stray bullet struck Susan Warden while she was working the cash register, officials say.
The Yellow House, an Indianapolis gift and home goods store owned by Sullivan Hardware & Garden, where a stray bullet struck Susan Warden while she was working the cash register, officials say. Street View Image from March 2025 © 2025 Google

An Indiana man police say fired shots during a road rage incident that crossed the street, pierced a wall and struck a hardware store employee in the face in 2023 was found guilty, according to news outlets.

Marqueses Tipton was found guilty of aggravated battery and criminal recklessness, according to WISH. In March 2023, Tipton was in a car crash in Indianapolis involving one SUV, then left his car and began firing at a different SUV as it drove away, per the outlet.

Some bullets struck the car, but one crossed the street and went into a business. That’s where 64-year-old Susan Warden was working at The Yellow House, a gift and home goods store under the Sullivan Hardware & Garden umbrella, according to WISH.

The bullet pierced the wall and a photo frame before striking Warden in the face, WRTV reported. Surveillance footage captured Tipton firing his weapon, while another camera inside the store documented the moment Warden was shot, according to the outlet.

She was rushed to a hospital and listed in critical condition, with facial fractures and severe injuries to her left eye and temple, WRTV reported.

Doctors told Warden that saving her eye would take multiple surgeries, and she opted to have it removed instead, according to WTHR. She told WTHR she’s focused on physically recovering and has no personal grudge against Tipton.

“I don’t know him,” she said to WTHR. “I don’t know his life. I would only assume that had to be anger that came from somewhere. And I would hope that he could resolve that - for himself.”

Tipton thought he saw one of the other drivers with a gun, per court documents referenced by WISH. His two children, 2 and 9 years old, were in the car with him when the accident happened.

“They didn’t even care about that,” he told WTHR after the hearing. “They didn’t care about my kids being in the car and being hurt.”

A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Tipton in April, according to WRTV.

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This story was originally published March 6, 2025 at 1:32 PM with the headline "Stray bullet in road rage shooting hit cashier’s face, Indiana cops say. Man convicted."

Rhiannon Saegert
mcclatchy-newsroom
Rhiannon Saegert is a McClatchy Real-Time reporter covering the midwest from Southern Nevada. She’s an alumna of The University of North Texas, and has written for local newspapers like Waco Tribune-Herald and the Las Vegas Sun as well as Eater and other online publications.
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