STE. GENEVIEVE — A 54-year-old Ste. Genevieve County man was taken into custody at a Farmington motel early Wednesday morning after allegedly shooting at children who may have been trespassing on his property in the 8100 block of Route F.
The Ste Genevieve County Sheriff’s Office says Jesse Wright faces charges of unlawful use of a weapon and endangering the welfare of a child, both felonies and a misdemeanor fourth degree assault charge. He is being held on $25,000 cash bond in the Ste. Genevieve County Jail.
Chief Deputy Jason Schott says officers responded to a report of shots fired in the area around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday.
Schott says deputies put up a perimeter around the single family home the suspect was believed to be in, but eventually learned that the man had left the scene prior to law enforcement arriving and had fled to a motel in Farmington.
Armed with that information sheriff’s deputies and a SWAT team from the Missouri State Highway Patrol obtained a search warrant and then served it at the motel around 2 a.m. Wednesday. The suspect was taken into custody.
The local authorities were also assisted by an FBI SWAT team which cleared the home on Route F before investigators could go inside.
Deputy Schott says the young people the man was firing towards may have included his own grandchildren. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
Route F in Ste Genevieve County was closed between Route AA and Worley Road during the early stage of the incident.