A 69-year-old Missouri man was arrested this week for allegedly pulling a.38 caliber revolver on a group of teens trying to jump-start their car in his driveway and telling them, “If you don’t get out…” “I’m going to shoot y’all,” he said before firing a round and returning inside, according to police.
“Everyone scattered away after he fired off his gun,” according to Gerald Haas’ probable cause statement, filed in Jackson County Circuit Court prior to his arrest on Wednesday.
Haas is accused of drawing his gun on three teenagers and one adult on Monday, July 14, around 6:15 p.m., after one of their cars broke down and the other came to its aid, according to the Kansas City Missouri Police Department. According to the charging documents, investigators spoke with Haas and the teens involved in the incident, which occurred at Haas’ residence on the 9500 block of East 47th Street.
“Haas stated that he advised the individuals to push their vehicles off his driveway,” the probable cause statement reads. “Haas stated that [a neighbor] came out of his house and began threatening him. Haas stated that [the neighbor] was holding a wooden board and threatened him by saying, ‘Stick it up your butt.'”
According to police, Haas went inside his home, retrieved his.38, and placed it in his pocket before returning outside. “Haas stated [the neighbor] told him he had a gun and then threw the wooden board at him, missing him,” the probable cause statement says. Haas stated that he pulled out his firearm and fired one round above [the neighbors’] heads into the berm behind him.
According to the teens, they were the ones Haas appeared to be after. One of them told police that Haas came out of his house with the gun “and something else in his hand that he was waving around” before confronting them about the car.
“[One of the teens] stated they explained to Haas what they were doing and he became more aggressive, pulled out a silver colored revolver and pointed it at her,” according to the probable cause assertion.
The alleged adult victim also stated that “Haas yelled, ‘If you don’t get out of my driveway, I’m gonna shoot y’all.'” From there, “everyone was attempting to hurry and get in their vehicles so they can leave the area immediately,” according to the court document.
The group told police that this is what prompted the neighbor to intervene, with the resident walking out and “waving around some sort of firewood brick ‘thing’,” according to police. The neighbor was “telling Haas they were just kids and to leave them alone,” according to the probable cause statement. After the neighbor allegedly threw the plank, “Haas then fired one round.”
The sexagenarian faces felony unlawful use of a weapon and misdemeanor unlawful discharge of a firearm charges. He was booked into the Jackson County Detention Center on a $5,000 bond. His next court date is July 23.
