Six years in prison for 20-year-old who fired sawed-off shotgun
A 20-year-old was sentenced to six years in prison for a shooting in Sussex that lead to an Alert Ready message in November.
Jacob Evan St. Peter, of Queen Street, pleaded guilty in April to firing a gun reckless to the life and safety of three people, carrying a shotgun for a purpose dangerous to the public peace, pointing a firearm at a person and possessing a firearm knowing the serial number had been removed, according to court documents.
Police were called at 12:58 a.m. to a report of a shooting outside of the Golden Arrows Bar on Main Street. St. Peter had been kicked out for causing a disturbance, followed by bouncers and other patrons, court heard.
Once outside, he pulled out a sawed-off shotgun and shot at a person, hitting him in the legs with birdshot, court documents say. Police said in November that one individual was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
An officer then heard a gunshot and found a couple on a bench at Main Street and Park Street, according to documents. They told police that St. Peter had approached them waving a gun, and when one of them told him to drop it St. Peter had pointed it at them and fired, striking the bench and a wall, according to documents.
St. Peter reportedly ran away and hid the firearm under a truck, according to documents. An Alert Ready message was issued, and St. Peter was found a short while later, leading to the notice being rescinded, police said at the time. He gave a statement to police and was found with gunshot residue on his hands.
A father of one who was 19 at the time of the incident, St. Peter did not have a criminal record, according to his pre-sentence report. He had been battling drug dependency and alcohol misuse since his early teens, according to the report, and had been taking cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamines in the days leading up to the incident, and hadn't slept "for almost two days."
He acknowledged responsibility for his actions and indicated "he is very fortunate that the situation did not turn out much worse," according to the report.
On May 30, Judge Andrew Palmer sentenced him to six years minus 303 days of credit for time served, according to documents. He was given a 10-year weapons ban, subject to a DNA order and was ordered to forfeit the firearm, documents say.
Andrew Bates, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Telegraph-Journal
