Man Charged in Connection to a Series of Shootings in October

(KNSI) — A 28-year-old St. Cloud man is jailed and charged with three felonies after an alleged series of shootings late last month.

According to the criminal complaint, at 2:14 a.m. On October 30th, St. Cloud police received several calls regarding gunshots close in time and proximity to each other. Police were near the 500 block of 7th Avenue South when they said they heard around ten gunshots to the south of their location. They say the gunshots were in the alley around the 500 block near 7th Avenue South and 8th Avenue South. Officers found seven spent casings and spoke with witnesses who said they heard the gunshots.

According to surveillance video, a black sedan was driving in the area just after the gunshots were reported. Investigators tracked the car to Sylvester Teddy Martin Junior, who they learned was driving the car at the time of the shooting. Additional surveillance footage found the car driving near the intersection of 13th Street South and 6th Avenue South about half an hour later when they say approximately five gunshots were fired.

About 3:00 a.m., another call of gunshots came in near the 1200 block of 6th Avenue South in St. Cloud. Eight minutes later, police found the car they say Martin was driving in the area of the last report of gunshots.

According to the criminal complaint, Martin was arrested and told officers there was a gun in the vehicle. Officers checked and said they found a black Glock .9mm with a loaded extended magazine behind the driver’s side floorboards. They say there were also several .9mm casings inside the vehicle and two more casings stuck on the outside of the vehicle, which they say is consistent with them being lodged in a vehicle seam after being discharged from a gun. They said the casings recovered there matched the casings from the shootings earlier that morning.

Police were called several hours after the shots were fired to remove a round stuck in the wall of a unit at a nearby apartment building. They say the apartment unit’s window was broken in a manner consistent with a bullet traveling through it. Investigators determined the round was fired from the street and toward the building.

November 8th, police went back to the area near 6th Avenue South and allegedly recovered two .9mm casings one block south of where the surveillance footage and audio was captured. Those casings were allegedly consistent with the other casings recovered from Martin’s vehicle and handgun.

Court documents say that a witness that was with Martin the night of the shootings said Martin was at the bars, was driving the car, had a gun, and fired shots in the areas where law enforcement was investigating. They said Martin was angry and standing outside his car and fired the handgun several times.

When the court documents were filed on November 16th, Martin was nowhere to be found, but jail records show he was arrested on November 17th. He has been charged with three counts of reckless discharge of a firearm.

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