Officer interrupts domestic attack in progress

Mark McKinley

A Cape Girardeau police officer who heard a woman screaming from inside a house, stopped an attack Sunday, April 28, according to a probable-cause statement.

Mark McKinley, 58, of Cape Girardeau faces charges of third-degree domestic assault and two charges of first-degree harassment.

A police officer, whose name is redacted, responded to a call of a possible domestic situation. The caller said McKinley was angry and yelling threats that he was going to kill the victim. The officer said when he arrived, he could hear shouting from inside the house.

“I then ran up to the garage that was partially opened and could hear a female yelling to ‘get off me, just let me go, just let me go!’” according to the document. The officer reported he unholstered his gun, went inside the home and pointed his weapon at McKinley, ordering him to get on the ground.

According to the probable-cause statement, the fight broke out because McKinley “became enraged due to officers being called (redacted) house earlier in the day for a shots fired call … and blamed (redacted) for calling the cops on him.”

He also is believed to have fired a weapon earlier that day, according to the probable-cause statement. Officers questioned McKinley about the shots fired report. He told officers he was intoxicated, but gave officers consent to search the backyard, where officers found two shell casings. Officers found a 9 mm handgun under the seat in McKinley’s vehicle.

Over the course of the day leading up to the call, McKinley allegedly smashed a television and ripped out the wiring to the garage door, rendering it inoperable.

McKinley is being held without bond. Alan Beussink is the judge assigned to the case.