Man shot, hospitalized after firing weapon in Jackson domestic dispute

A Jackson man was shot and hospitalized after he fired a weapon following a domestic dispute in a Jackson neighborhood Wednesday afternoon, police said.

Lawrence Anthony Guthrie, 46, was charged in the evening with assault on a law enforcement officer, domestic assault and armed criminal action. Bond was set at $500,000.

Jackson police responded about 4 p.m. to the reported dispute in the Broadridge subdivision near Jackson Middle School, chief James Humphreys said. Shortly after the call came, police received reports Guthrie had a high-powered rifle and a handgun and that shots had been fired.

Jackson Police chief James Humphreys coordinates the investigation at a crime scene Wednesday, June 13, 2012 in the Broadridge subdivision near Jackson Middle School. (Joe Gamm)

The suspect shot at his wife and at a state trooper, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper Clark Parrott. When troopers arrived to assist Jackson police, the man fled into the woods and a chase ensued, Parrott said. The incident ended about 4:30 p.m., when the man was shot.

Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said in a release that it wasn't clear whether any of the wounds were self-inflicted but that they did not appear to be life-threatening. Guthrie was taken to a St. Louis hospital, he said, and will return to Cape Girardeau County when his condition stabilizes.

No other injuries were reported.

A neighbor who lives on nearby Primrose Lane said he heard five or six shots fired. After the shots, the neighbor said, he saw a highway patrol car speed through the neighborhood. Then he heard more shots.

Geraldine Davis said she thought she heard fireworks and stepped out the door to the garage at her Primrose Lane home and a trooper ran up and asked her if she'd seen anyone, then told her to get back inside her home and lock the doors.

Her neighbor, Scott Hume, said a trooper came to his home, asked to come in, and sent Hume and his two children to the basement. Moments later he heard shots from upstairs. Hume said shell casings remained on the floor of the bedroom where a trooper had apparently fired a weapon from one of his back windows.

After the incident, Davis went outside and found three bullet holes in the bricks of her garage.

"It's just a good neighborhood," she said. "I can't believe this is happening."

Law enforcement personnel closed Independence Street at Tanglewood and west of Broadridge Drive during the incident. They also closed Broadridge Drive southwest of the school.

Jackson school superintendent Ron Anderson confirmed the incident happened near the middle school but said summer school classes dismiss at noon, so no students were on campus.

Independence Street reopened just before 5 p.m. However, police had closed off the entrance to Broadridge Drive.

"This is nothing you'd expect in this neighborhood," said Lanny Lannom, who lives in the 1300 block of Primrose Lane.

jgamm@semissourian.com

388-3635

eragan@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

1240 Broadridge Drive, Jackson, MO