KENNETT — Patrick Skelton, 28, of Senath is in custody after shooting at a Dunklin County Deputy and a family after the deputy responded to a domestic assault.
Thursday evening, a deputy responded to a domestic assault on Highway Z near Kennett, according to a press release from the Dunklin County prosecutor. When he responded he found Skelton’s girlfriend and her 4-year-old child. Soon after, her parents arrived on the scene.
While the deputy was gathering information, Skelton, who allegedly had crashed a car nearby, reportedly began shooting at them. One bullet struck one of the victim’s vehicles, deputies report.
Law enforcement officers arrested the defendant in a ditch nearby, allegedly in possession of a 9mm pistol. After being taken into custody, deputies report he threatened another police officer and said he wished he had killed the deputy.
Dunklin County Prosecutor Nicholas Jain charged Skelton with five counts of assault in the first degree, five counts of armed criminal action, seven counts of unlawful use of a weapon, endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree, domestic assault in the third degree, and driving while intoxicated as a persistent offender. Judge John Spielman issued a warrant for Skelton’s arrest and he is being held in the Dunklin County Jail on a $750,000 cash only bond.
Jain cautioned that the charges are merely allegations and that the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.