Justin Turnbough, 43, of Barnhart has been charged for allegedly shooting at three people at the Stoney Apartments complex off Old Hwy. M in Barnhart early Wednesday morning, Sept. 3. One man was shot in the face and treated for non-life-threatening injuries at Mercy Hospital Jefferson in Crystal City, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Turnbough has been charged with three counts of first-degree assault or attempted assault, each one a class B felony punishable by five to 15 years in prison; and three counts of armed criminal action, all unclassified felonies that carry penalties of three to 15 years in prison, according to the Sheriff’s office.
Turnbough was being held today, Sept. 4, without bond at the Jefferson County Jail in Hillsboro, the report said.
Deputies were called at about 3:20 a.m. Wednesday to the apartment complex because of the alleged shooting. When deputies met the shooting victim at his apartment, he had bullet fragments in his cheek. The man was transported to the hospital, according to the probable-cause statement in the case.
At the hospital, the shooting victim said he had met two friends early in the morning to ride bicycles and was riding near a dumpster at the back of the apartment complex when he heard a loud noise and went back to his apartment to call the police, the report said.
The man who was shot also said he believed he saw someone on a balcony to the right of the dumpster. The two people who were riding with the man also said they saw a man on the balcony, and they told investigators the suspect was holding what appeared to be a long rifle with a “red dot” that he apparently had fired at them, according to the report
The two other people were not injured.
Investigators found multiple holes in a metal enclosure around the dumpster where the three people said they were riding. They also found multiple bullets, the report said.
Investigators determined there was only one balcony where the bullets could have been fired from because the other balconies were obstructed by a carport. The unobstructed balcony also had a mason jar oil lamp with a purple liquid inside, which matched a description one of the bike riders gave, saying there was a purple light where the shots may have been fired from, according to the report.
Deputies went to Turnbough’s apartment and arrested him without incident. Turnbough asked if he was being taken to jail and asked about his bond, and when he was told detectives are not involved in that part of the investigation, he said it was “inevitable,” the report said.
Deputies obtained a search warrant for the apartment, and they allegedly found multiple guns and ammunition. Some of the rifles matched the description the bike riders said they saw on the balcony, according to the report.