ESSIG — A New Ulm man has been charged with three counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, domestic assault and two counts of the intentional discharge of a firearm following a reported assault and incident earlier this month in Essig.
Bryce Curtis Flitter, 22, was charged in Brown County District Court in connection with the dispatch of Brown County sheriff’s deputies to a report of a fight and gunshots just after 11 p.m. Feb. 10, according to the criminal complaint. Authorities saw a male running toward a squad car and pointing toward the Essig baseball park.
Investigators were told the individuals involved had been at a bar in Sleepy Eye earlier in the evening for bingo. One of the three victims reported that after arriving separately back at the residence they share with Flitter, he observed someone attempting to separate Flitter and another victim inside a vehicle. It was stated Flitter was on top of him and choking him. After being pulled away, Flitter allegedly entered the house and returned with a shotgun.
An argument reportedly began during the drive home and Flitter turned around in the vehicle and began choking a passenger, who reported injuries to his left forearm and scratches on his back, stating he was afraid for his life during the incident.
A witness reported hearing a gunshot and then seeing Flitter walking toward the group with the shotgun, the complaint states. Two people took cover behind a vehicle while another retrieved a handgun from his own vehicle before a second gunshot was heard. Reports state Flitter continued advancing and did not comply with commands to drop the shotgun before someone grabbed the barrel of the shotgun and disarmed Flitter, ejecting a remaining shell, according to the complaint.
Witness statements were consistent with the other accounts and included seeing Flitter point the shotgun and hearing two shots fired. With assistance from Sleepy Eye police, Flitter was later pulled over in his vehicle and arrested, the complaint states.
Deputies recovered a shotgun and 11 shotgun slugs from Flitter’s vehicle, the complaint said. Law enforcement reported Flitter seemed intoxicated and smelled of alcohol. A preliminary breath test administered at the Brown County Jail recorded a .0112 blood alcohol concentration. Deputies located two spent shotgun shell casings at the scene and observed disturbed ground near where the shots were believed to have been fired.