Warrant issued for suspect in Regency Lane shooting

A warrant was issued Thursday charging a Poplar Bluff man with multiple felonies in connection with an earlier shooting in the Hilliard area.

Authorities initially named Tyler Scott Wangler a person of interest Wednesday evening, and as they continue their search for the 29-year-old, sought charges against him.

Wangler is charged with the Class A felony of first-degree assault, the unclassified felony of armed criminal action, the Class E felony of unlawful use of a weapon and the Class D felony of second-degree assault.

Associate Circuit Judge C. Wade Pierce issued a no-bond warrant for Wangler’s arrest.

The charges against Wangler stem from a shooting, which occurred in the 100 block of Regency Lane, off of Highway W.

“After it all happened, (the victim) got out, got in his car and got as far as the railroad tracks and found someone to call for help,” said Butler County Chief Deputy Popp.

A 911 call was received by the Butler County Sheriff’s Department just before noon from a passerby who reported “a man next to a vehicle, covered in blood,” said Popp, The vehicle, he said, was headed toward Poplar Bluff.

The man, a 31-year-old from Broseley, appeared to have been shot, Popp said.

“Deputies and EMS were dispatched,” Popp said. “He had a wound to the head and what appeared to be a gunshot wound to his forearm.”

The victim was taken by ambulance to Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center for treatment of what Popp called non-life threatening injuries.

Court documents say the victim, who was treated and released, was shot and struck in the head with a firearm.

“Before he was transported, he told officers a description of the house (a blue house) next to a trailer park” off of Highway W, Popp said. “We were able to identify the house at the end of Regency Lane, off of Highway W.”

Regency Lane is located north of the railroad tracks on Highway W.

After locating the residence, Popp said, officers saw blood spots in the driveway.

“Contact was made at the residence, and five individuals came to the sheriff’s office to be interviewed,” said Popp, who indicated the Poplar Bluff Police Department sent detectives to assist with the investigation.

Those interviewed from the residence are “affirming that the victim was there, and there was an altercation,” said Popp, who indicated descriptions of the suspect were provided from both the victim and the others at the home.

“Through the investigation, we were able to identify the suspect as Tyler Wangler, who currently had a warrant for tampering/stealing a motor vehicle through Butler County,” Popp said.

“Apparently, the victim didn’t know (Wangler) was at the residence” when he arrived there, Popp said. “There is some sort of friction between the two.”

Both Wangler and the victim, Popp said, are “known to us as being in narcotics; to say definitely (it was drug related), we don’t know.”

After the alleged shooting, Wangler fled the scene in his own vehicle, described as a silver passenger car, Popp said.

A search warrant, Popp said, also was applied for and executed on the Regency Lane home.

Nothing of evidentiary value was found in the home, but that is where officers believe the shooting occurred, Popp said.

A vehicle reported stolen through the police department was found in the driveway and seized by city officers, Popp said.

Once Wangler was identified as a suspect, Popp said, a photographic line up was compiled, and the victim “positively identified him.”

On Thursday, Popp said, investigators were looking at video footage from “places up and down W Highway” and following up with the victim.

The search for Wangler continues.

Wangler, according to Popp, has no known residence at this time, as he “stays wherever he can lay his head.”

Anyone with information as to Wangler’s whereabouts, should call 573-785-8444. All calls are kept confidential.