WEST PLAINS (ECNN) – Deputy Seth Smith with the Howell County Sheriff’s office was alerted by the West Plains Police Department on June 27th pertaining to a 17-year-old male at Ozarks Healthcare with a gunshot wound.
After Deputy Smith responded to the scene of the shooting on 5865 County Road 1580, he received statements from several witnesses at the residence and found that a male suspect Nathaniel Mejia of West Plains had fired multiple shots in the direction of the residence from a moving vehicle, hitting the victim in the hand.
Howell County Sheriff’s Office received an anonymous tip on June 28th that Mejia was the passenger in a car in the West Plains area.
After locating the vehicle, Deputy Smith conducted a traffic stop on Gibson Avenue. The Deputy found the alleged weapon used in the shooting and seized the weapon from the vehicle.
19-year-old Mejia was arrested and transported to the Howell County Jail. He has been charged with Armed Criminal Action, 2nd Degree Assault, and Unlawful Use of a Weapon.