MANKATO — A Mankato man is facing charges after he discharged a firearm inside an apartment, sending a bullet through the ceiling into the apartment below.
Altravien Zakedrian James Eaglin, 22 was charged in Blue Earth County District Court with felony reckless discharge of a firearm within a municipality and illegal possession of ammunition and firearms, according to the criminal complaint.
On Aug. 12, Mankato Department of Public Safety officers were dispatched to Valley View Apartments on James Avenue after a resident reported that a gun had gone off in the apartment above. No injuries were reported and the witnesses told authorities they were in their apartment below Eaglin’s when they heard a loud bang before a bullet passed through their ceiling and into the floor of their apartment, the complaint states.
The residents reportedly told officers that Eaglin came into their apartment afterward and said he had been robbed.
The complaint states that Eaglin told the witnesses not to call police. They did contact law enforcement and Eaglin made statements indicating he had been robbed and a firearm was discharged.
Officers later executed a search warrant at Eaglin’s apartment, where they found a shell casing and a black glove. An AR-style rifle was reportedly found wrapped in a rain jacket in a common laundry area. A loaded magazine was on the floor next to the rifle and another black glove was found near the gun, the complaint states.
Reportedly, Eaglin initially told officers the discharged firearm was not his and that he was not supposed to be around guns. He later said he wanted to be honest and acknowledged that the firearm was his and that he had discharged it while removing bullets from the gun.