CASPER — Police have arrested a 26-year-old man after they say he fired four bullets into the ceiling of his Casper apartment after allegedly sending a text message threatening to murder his upstairs neighbor.
Travis Eugene Nelson made his initial appearance in Casper Circuit Court on Friday on a charge of aggravated assault and battery.
Court records show Casper police officers responded to an undisclosed apartment complex at 11:14 p.m. on Thursday on a report of suspicious messages sent to a female.
The messages included a photo of three different weapons and an alleged threat that her male neighbor was going to shoot her.
A police affidavit states a dispatcher encouraged the woman to leave the second-floor apartment and meet with officers in a patrol car.
The woman walked out to officers and told officers that she had heard a gunshot coming from the rear of her apartment.
A search of neighboring apartments encountered Nelson, who left his apartment directly below the woman as officers approached.
He told officers that he had been drinking more vodka than he should have and had been dealing with “bullshit” with one of his neighbors.
He also told officers he had a weapon, a Henry lever-action .22 caliber that “accidentally discharged” into the apartment ceiling of his bedroom.
Officers asked him if the discharge had anything to do with his neighbor and Nelson told police that “he was trying to choose his words carefully” so he did not get in trouble, the affidavit states.
“Nelson continually repeated that it was an accidental discharge,” the police affidavit states.
Nelson told police he had a 12-gauge shotgun and the Henry in his trunk because he was planning to leave on a road trip, but officers had arrived before he could leave.
The affidavit states that instead of the shotgun, officers found a black AR-style rifle and a brown lever-action rifle in the trunk.
Text Messages
Text messages shown to officers by the female neighbor showed a black AR-style rifle, a lever action rifle and a black shotgun. A text message with the weapons read: “Who said anything about that?”
When the woman replied: “Who would send a gun?” she received a response via text of: “It’s all fun and games until it’s not, I’ll come knock on your shit and air you out, just gimme the word.”
The woman did not respond, according to the affidavit.
Police obtained a search warrant for Nelson’s apartment and found several other weapons as well as .22-caliber shell casings on the floor.
There were three casings in a bedroom, three in a bedroom closet, two in a kitchen and one in a hallway, the affidavit states.
“Officers observed two holes in the ceiling of the kitchen, one hole in the bedroom and one in the hallway between the kitchen and the bedroom which were consistent with a .22 long rifle cartridge being fired into the ceiling,” the affidavit states.
The Henry lever action rifle recovered in the trunk of Nelson’s car had six rounds remaining in the tube, with one of the rounds jammed in the chamber, the affidavit states.
As officers executed the search warrant, the woman returned to her apartment and officers could hear her walking above.
“Based on the shell casing evidence, and the placement of the apparent bullet holes in the ceiling, it appeared as though Nelson was attempting to listen for where (the woman) was walking, and placing his shots aiming for the footsteps,” the affidavit states.
Officers found two bullet holes in the woman’s bedroom ceiling, but believe Nelson tried to shoot at least four times from his apartment into the woman’s unit, above him.
Police also recovered other loaded weapons lying on Nelson’s bed that included a .38-special revolver, AR-style rifle, .308-hunting rifle, and a .22-caliber air rifle.
The woman told police that she never gave Nelson her number and had only spoken to him once in person, the affidavit states. She told police Nelson had tried to text her once before and it “unnerved” her.
Nelson’s bond was set at $35,000 cash or surety. He was not listed in the Natrona County jail log on Monday.
The aggravated assault and battery charge carries a potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
