According to the probable cause statement written by Ozark County Chief Deputy Winston Collins, a dispatcher received a call Thursday morning at 9:21 regarding an individual holding a woman and a child at gunpoint at a Caulfield residence. Collins was dispatched; however, while he was en route toward the home, a dispatcher contacted him by police radio and said the victims had left the residence and would meet the officer at Highways V and 160. When Collins arrived, Brown’s wife, her 9-year-old son and another individual were waiting, the statement says. The woman reportedly told the officer Brown left the residence and was traveling toward West Plains in a blue Toyota RAV4 with an “uzi type firearm with a silencer” in his possession.
Ozark County Sheriff Darrin Reed notified the West Plains Police Department of the situation, and shortly afterward the West Plains Police Department called the Ozark County officers to inform them they had stopped Brown in his vehicle.
Collins and Reed drove to the scene where West Plains officer Brandon Romans had Brown pulled over for a traffic stop. When the officers arrived, Romans told Collins and Reed Brown had three firearms in the vehicle, two semi-automatic pistols and an Uzi-type firearm with a large suppressor. Romans said Barry had held another individual at gunpoint at a gas station in West Plains. Collins seized the “Uzi-type firearm” for evidence. The gun, which was later identified as an M-11 9mm, was loaded with a live round in the chamber and a magazine of unknown quantity of ammunition, the statement says. The West Plains Police Department secured the other two firearms for safekeeping.
Brown was placed under arrest and transported to the Ozark County Jail. He reportedly made “several admissions” regarding firing a gun the night before and told the officers he had popped off a few rounds that morning. Brown acknowledged he had threatened his wife with a gun when she wouldn’t leave the residence, the statement says.
After Brown had been arrested, the officers spoke with his wife once again, the statement says. She reportedly told the officers that the previous night, Wednesday, Brown pointed the “Uzi” at her 9-year-old son and pointed a shotgun at her. The woman said during the heat of the incident, Brown actually discharged the shotgun inside the house while both she and her son were there. The woman said the boy was frightened and crying.
Brown was interviewed by officers at 1:44 p.m. Thursday at the Ozark County Jail. He reportedly made several admissions throughout the interview, including telling officers that he shot his “scatter gun” (referring to a shotgun) at his computer during a group conversation between himself, his wife and his wife’s relatives. Collins writes in the report that he perceived Brown to mean that the conversation was a video conference communication with the wife’s relative via a computer screen.
After the interview with Brown, Collins went to the residence where the incident reportedly occurred. Collins writes in the report he saw numerous firearms and ammunition throughout the common area of the residence. A resident of the home, who was there when Collins arrived, reportedly showed the officer the shotgun used to shoot a computer, television and window inside the home. The shotgun was identified as a 12-gauge TTN International Model 1878 double-barreled shotgun. It was loaded with two live rounds, the report says. Collins unloaded the firearm and seized it as evidence. He also photographed the computer, television and window that had been shot. He found ammunition on the floor and loaded AR-15 magazines and rifles stacked against the wall with pistols on the couch arm. The ammunition was in the form of bags, boxes and loaded magazines.
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