Shooter gets probation, jail

A Minnesota man who shot a handgun from a vehicle on Barker’s Island after a verbal dispute with two people in the island’s public parking lot will spend 90 days in jail.

Matthew Kalvin Jaeckels, 21, of Northfield, Minn., pleaded no contest in Douglas County Circuit Court last month to one count felony stalking and an amended misdemeanor of endangering safety with the use of a dangerous weapon. A second stalking charge was dismissed.

Jaeckels was sentenced to two years of probation for the misdemeanor offense and ordered to serve 90 days in jail. Huber work release was granted and he was ordered to pay a $2,000 fine, undergo a psychological evaluation and have no contact with the victims and no possession of firearms.

A deferred judgment of conviction agreement was entered for the felony charge. If Jaeckels remains law abiding, successfully completes probation and follows through with any mental health evaluation recommendations for three years, the charge would be amended to misdemeanor disorderly conduct and he would be sentenced to 90 days jail concurrent, according to the agreement.

The jail sentence can be served in another county or state at no expense to Douglas County.

Jaeckels was one of four people in the truck and he is accused of pulling the trigger of the handgun.

According to the criminal complaint:

A man and woman had their vehicles parked in the island’s public parking lot the evening of April 18. Four people in a truck drove into the lot, asked what the man and woman were doing there and told them to get moving. When they left the island, the man followed the truck to his car to get their license plate.

After he returned to the island, the truck came back, flashed its lights at them and then circled the lot. As the truck was leaving the island it slowed near the bridge, stopped and a shot was fired from it.

The driver of the truck, 21-year-old Joseph Daniel Madison of Superior, is accused of handing the gun to Jaeckels and telling him to shoot it. Madison faces two counts felony stalking, one count felony discharge firearm from a vehicle towards a person and a misdemeanor charge obstructing an officer for the incident. His next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 14.

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