A man is charged with a trio of felonies and is held without bond in the Texas County Jail following an incident in which he is accused of firing a shotgun at his brother.
Justin L. McGowan, 35, of 3317 Highway MM, No. 32, at Mountain Grove, is charged with first-degree domestic assault, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon.
According to a Texas County Sheriff’s Department deputy, officers responded Wednesday regarding a report of a suicidal man armed with a gun at a residence at 10553 Prock Drive at Mountain Grove. On the way to the scene, the deputy was advised that the man – McGowan – had fired the weapon, and that his wife had told authorities that he wanted to die and would either kill himself or make responding officers kill him.
The deputy was also advised that McGowan had been walking along Prock Drive naked and thrown the gun in a ditch, and was in the custody of a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper.
Upon arrival, the deputy spoke with the trooper, McGowan’s wife and another man who lives in a separate residence at the same address.
The neighbor said he had invited McGowan into his home for coffee that morning, and after McGowan left he saw him running in a field naked. The man also reportedly said McGowan’s brother had tried to talk to him and calm him down, but that McGowan had gotten a shotgun (an Ithaca double-barrel 12-gauge) from the residence and shot at him.
The man also said he saw McGowan walking naked on the road carrying the gun, and that he threw it in the ditch.