Charges dropped against suspect in Lake of the Ozarks shooting

EDITOR’S NOTE: Bike Fest has been corrected to Bike Night.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Charges have been dropped against a man accused of taking part in a shootout at the Bagnell Dam strip last summer.

Tonka Ponder’s case was moved to St. Charles County on a change of venue. He was charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action for his role in the July 2021 shooting.

Cole County Prosecuting Attorney Locke Thompson, appointed special prosecutor in March, said Friday that he didn’t have any comment about why the case was dropped.

The probable cause statement from the highway patrol stated that investigators found surveillance video showing two motorcycle clubs fighting outside of a bar on the Bagnell Dam strip in Miller County. The patrol says one of them pulled a gun on Ponder, who then pulled his gun and shot the person identified as B.C., who died at the scene.

The shooting took place on Bike Night at Lake Ozark. In response to the shooting, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and local law enforcement increased patrols around the lake area.

Gov. Mike Parson earlier this week recognized members of the St. Louis County Police Department for their role in providing an initial police response at the scene. Those officers were having dinner at a restaurant across from a bar on the strip when the shooting happened.

The prosecutor in Miller County, where the case originated, and Ponder’s attorney did not respond to requests for comment.

Daniel Kurtzeborn was also charged in relation to the shooting. However, his charges and case number no longer appear in court records.

Thompson said he could not comment on Kurtzeborn’s case.