Man accused of displaying gun at Vermont Park shooting in Sedalia

SEDALIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Pettis County prosecutors have charged a man for allegedly displaying a gun at a Monday shooting in Sedalia.

Prosecutors charged Jesse Rubio with unlawful use of a weapon on Wednesday, a class E felony. Sedalia police said witnesses accused of Rubio of pulling a gun out of his waistband while in his car in the parking lot of Vermont Park on May 31.

Sedalia police said "an ongoing dispute between [two] parties" may have started the shooting at the park the night of May 31. Police previously arrested two people, Jayden Cheese and Jordy Salazar, for their alleged roles in the shooting. Neither have been charged yet in the incident. No one was hurt, but officers found a car damaged by gunfire.

A probable cause statement from Sedalia police in Rubio's case said the two told "largely similar" stories to police. The two went with two others, including Rubio, to Vermont Park following a fight at a different park that neither Cheese nor Salazar took part in. Salazar allegedly told police that two people at the park pulled out a rifle and pistol and fired at their cars when they arrived at Vermont Park.

Sedalia police also spoke to those two people that fired at the cars. One of them told police, according to the probable cause statement, that they saw Rubio pull a gun from his waistband, but did not know for sure if he fired it.

Rubio allegedly asked for his lawyer when questioned by police on June 1.

"[The witness] believed that Jesse's intentions were to use his pistol," police wrote.

The probable cause statement said that the shooting at Vermont Park may be connected to a May 14 shooting at Centennial Park. Police said the victim in the Centennial Park shooting was the same person that claimed to see Rubio pull out a gun.