A local man is behind bars after getting intoxicated and shooting his gun into the air in North Webster.
On Sunday, Jan. 8, a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department deputy and officer from the Syracuse Police Department responded to shots fired at 25 EMS W23 C Lane in North Webster, near Backwater Lake.
When officers approached the residence and knocked on the door, they could hear someone yelling inside the home and a man exited the front door with a rifle in his hand pointed in the direction of the officers. Both officers immediately took cover behind the corner of the house with their weapons drawn.
Officers spoke to the man, identified as John Marion Keller, 47, North Webster, who agreed to go back inside and put the weapon down. Keller then exited the home without the gun and invited officers inside.
Police observed Keller was unsteady on his feet, his speech was slurred, he had bloodshot eyes and a strong odor of alcohol coming from his breath.
The sheriff’s deputy spoke with Keller who said he fired his rifle with blanks out by his truck. While speaking with Keller, officers noticed a glass smoking device with burnt residue and a sandwich bag that contained a plant substance. The deputy identified the substance as marijuana. Keller admitted the items belonged to him.
The officers searched the area around Keller’s truck and located five Hornady 40 caliber spent casings. They confronted Keller about the spent casings and he admitted to firing his 40 caliber Ruger handgun into the air.
Keller was given a PBT, preliminary breath test, and he tested at .22 breath alcohol content.
Police spoke with Keller’s neighbor who said he woke to hearing five gunshots very close to his home and looked outside and saw Keller standing in his driveway yelling into the air.
Keller was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail on Jan. 8 on misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia and a felony charge of criminal reckless with a deadly weapon. His bond was set at $5,250.
