Saturday 17th May 2025

handcuffs-jail-bars

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Western Missouri has filed charges against the man accused of shooting at Pettis County deputies earlier this month, injuring two of them.

62-year-old James Joseph Elsea is accused of discharging a firearm after Pettis County Sheriff’s Deputies and members of the East Central Missouri Drug Task Force served a no-knock state search warrant May 2 on his residence outside Longwood. According to the district attorney’s office, Elsea fired four rounds at officers as one of them was attempting to cut through a security bar on a door. Two deputies were treated and later released from the hospital, and Elsea was arrested.

The prosecutors’ affidavit alleges that federal agents recovered two semi-automatic handguns, with one of them still loaded. Elsea is also facing charges of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possessing firearms after a felony conviction.