23-year-old Rochester man arrested after allegedly firing multiple gunshots in Lowell neighborhood

A Rochester man is facing felony charges after police say he fired a gun multiple times outside of a Lowell home Thanksgiving evening. 

According to the probable cause affidavit, police were dispatched just before 7 p.m. on Nov. 27 to a Lowell subdivision after the caller claimed to hear around ten gunshots followed by screaming. 

Officers who arrived at the scene located four .40-caliber spent shell casings and a bullet fragment in front of a home. The homeowners reported to officers that an unknown person had knocked on their door after the incident, but quickly sped off in a Dodge SUV before they were able to answer the door. While officers remained at the scene, another responding unit near the area stopped a black Dodge Durango matching the description. 

During the stop Jordan B. Shaffer, 23, of Rochester was located sitting in the passenger seat of the Durango. Officers reported Shaffer to be hysterical, unsteady, slurring his words and visibly intoxicated when he was removed from the vehicle. 

The driver of the SUV told officers her and Shaffer had been with her family for their Thanksgiving gathering when he became intoxicated and emotionally distraught. The driver denied any knowledge of Shaffer firing a gun and claimed she had been driving and stopped in the subdivision to “take a breather” and then walked away briefly “to take a walk.”

When the driver consented to a search of a vehicle, Shaffer told officers there was a .40-caliber handgun in the center console and additional firearms in the back. 

During the search, however, officers located a Smith & Wesson rifle, a Smith & Wesson M&P .40-caliber handgun in the rear seat with the slide locked to the rear, an empty Smith & Wesson magazine behind the driver’s seat, one spent .40-caliber casing in the passenger seat crease and one spent .40-caliber casing on the passenger floorboard. 

A shotgun was never found during the search of the vehicle, despite Shaffer stating there was one inside. EMS evaluating Shaffer determined he was experiencing a severe panic/anxiety attack, but he did not require transport to the hospital.

Officer's reported Shaffer's behavior further escalated before he was taken into custody and transported to Lake County Jail on charges of Criminal Recklessness Committed With a Deadly Weapon, a Level 6 Felony.