One month after a man walked into the Corner Pub holding a grenade and claiming to have a car filled with guns, the people who defused the situation were honored by the City of Wilton Manors.

At the City Commission meeting on Sept. 13, officers who responded to the scene were presented with the Exceptional Duty Award. They include David Turner, Jason Nobles, and Nicole Kline.

Bar owners Anthony and Shannon Henne, along with bartender Joseph Shakespeare and customer Darryl Marksberry, also known as Darryl Darling, were given the Civilian Service award.

It was Marksberry, a former Marine, who recognized the danger and confronted the man.

“I’m glad that the best outcome occurred,” he said at the commission meeting.

Marksberry employed tactics similar to hostage negotiations. He made a connection by discussing shared experiences, in this case it was their military backgrounds. This allowed others to escape from the building. Eventually Marksberry convinced the man to come outside with him. Once they cleared the door he put him in a headlock and threw him to the ground.

That may have been the most dangerous moment because the attacker still had the grenade. As it turns out, it wasn’t a live grenade and there were no other weapons on the premises. The man, who was reportedly drunk and upset, was taken for a mental evaluation.

As for Marksberry, being recognized is emotional validation.

“It’s overwhelming and it actually means a lot to me. Every day I try to live my life to make a small difference in someone else’s world and to me this was a small act. To others it’s ‘Hey, you just jumped on a grenade, that’s crazy.’ I have the capacity to do such things that are really good in the world.”

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