Malden man shoots at police, children

KENNETT — A rural Malden man is to appear in court Thursday on charges alleging he fired shots at family members and threatened to kill them before he fired at a responding officer.

Perry Handy Sr. is to appear at 9 a.m. before Associate Circuit Judge John Spielman for his initial arraignment.

He is accused of shooting at a Malden police captain, as well as a young woman and her 3-year-old child.

The 66-year-old is charged with the Class A felony of first-degree assault, two Class B felonies of first-degree assault, three unclassified felonies of armed criminal action, two Class D felonies of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child and the Class E felony of unlawful use of a weapon.

Handy is being held without bond in the Dunklin County Justice Center.

At about 3:40 p.m. Sunday, Dunklin County Deputy Patrick Cole reportedly was sent to Handy’s residence in the 43600 block of Highway 25, north of the Malden city limits.

“I was told by Dunklin County dispatch that Mr. Perry Handy Sr. was armed with a gun and a knife and was firing at family members and threatening to kill them,” Cole wrote in his probable-cause affidavit. “The caller told dispatch that Mr. Handy was now in a shed behind the residence with two children,” ages 9 and 11.

Since Cole was responding from Campbell and given the “seriousness of the call,” Cole said, he asked for assistance from the Malden Police Department.

While en route, Cole said, he was told “Malden police were on scene and shots had been fired at the officer on scene.”

Upon his arrival, Cole said, he met police Capt. Bobby Jones, who had Handy in custody.

Jones reported Handy had been in a shed at the rear of the property when Jones arrived, Cole said.

“When Capt. Jones ordered him out, Mr. Handy stepped out of the shed, pointed a shotgun at him and fired one round,” Cole said.

Due to there being children in the shed with Handy, Jones, a 13-year veteran, reported he did not return fire.

After taking cover, Cole said, Jones ordered Handy to drop his weapon and come out showing his hands.

“Capt. Jones stated that Mr. Handy complied and was taken into custody at that time,” Cole said.

Cole said he found two spent 12-gauge shotgun shells on the ground in front of the shed.

Inside the shed, Cole said, he found a spent shotgun shell, north of the door and four more shotgun rounds near a workbench.

A Maverick 12-gauge, pump shotgun also was found leaning up against a wall in the shed, Cole said.

“While inspecting the firearm, five live rounds were removed from the weapon,” Cole said.

During the investigation, Cole said, he spoke to Handy’s wife, who reported her husband had threatened Keyania Hill with two knives before grabbing a shotgun and threatening to kill everyone.

Hill, he said, alleged Handy “became angry when she arrived and pulled a knife on her in the kitchen and then went and grabbed a gun.

“(She) stated that Mr. Handy then went outside with two juveniles and was threatening to shoot everyone in the house. (She) stated that the family locked the door to keep Mr. Handy from coming in with the gun …”

Jahvashea Farmer, Cole said, reported she and her 3-year-old son had gone next door to see if her grandmother, Handy’s wife, needed anything before she left her house.

Cole said Farmer reported she went to the back door and was told by Handy not to go in.

“Ms. Farmer stated that at that time, Mr. Handy pointed the shotgun at her and her son and fired two rounds,” Cole said.

A relative, Farmer further reported to Cole, opened the back door and told her to come inside.

“Ms. Farmer stated that Mr. Handy told (the relative) not to open the door or he would kill him,” Cole said. “(She) stated that she ran to the front yard with her son and called 911 …”

No injuries were reported.