Police use new NIBIN system to identify suspect in April downtown shooting
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) -
A police interrogation, pictures on a cellphone and the use of new bullet technology helped Columbia police identify a possible suspect in an April downtown shooting.
Newly released court documents lay out the case against Travis A. Jones Jr., 22, for a shooting at Broadway and Ninth Street on April 13. Prosecutors asked a judge to seal the case in April while law enforcement tried to arrest Jones, who allegedly evaded police that morning. Boone County sheriff's deputies took Jones into custody around 5:45 p.m., according to jail records.
The shooting sent two people to the hospital around 1:30 a.m. that morning. A probable cause statement from CPD in the case said one victim was shot in the neck, while another was shot in the leg. Police told ABC 17 News then that two juveniles were taken into custody.
Prosecutors have charged Jones with first-degree assault, armed criminal action, stealing a gun, tampering with evidence and resisting arrest. An assistant prosecutor asked a judge in April to stop the case from appearing on CaseNet out of fear Jones would try to run away.
In court Tuesday, Jones appeared virtually from the Boone County Jail. He also told the Boone County Judge Kimberly Shaw that he has already requested an attorney.
"You knowingly shot at victim one, hitting him in the neck. Such conduct was a substantial step towards the commission of the offense of assault in the first degree of victim one and was done for the purpose of committing such assault," Shaw said.
The statement said patrol officer Nathan Turner was driving west on Broadway near Hitt Street heard gunfire at the intersection of Broadway and Tenth Street. The officer reported he saw two people, one in a gray shirt and another in red hoodie, holding guns and running down Ninth Street. Turner said the person in the gray shirt, a juvenile, fired shots toward his vehicle.
The statement said officers eventually caught the juvenile in Alley A, who told them that "they shot at him." A crime scene investigator found a gun reported stolen from Marshall under a car at the end of the alley where the person in a red hoodie exited.
A "concerned citizen" told CPD that Jones's cousin may have been involved in the shooting. Police took the cousin into custody, who told them Jones was wearing his distinct red hoodie that night. The department took the cousin's phone and allegedly found pictures of Jones in the hoodie, as well as photos of Jones holding a gun that matched the one they found at the end of the alley.
Police test-fired that weapon and compared its shell casings to those found at the scene using its new in-house NIBIN system. Police said the system gave a "presumptive match" that the gun found at the scene fired the cartridges found downtown.
While two juveniles were taken into custody, the Boone County Juvenile Office only received a referral for one of them, juvenile officer Angie Bezoni told ABC 17 News. Bezoni said that a judge committed the 15-year-old to the Division of Youth Services in July, rather than face certification as an adult.
Jones will have a bond hearing at 1 p.m. on Oct. 14.
