ALTON - After firing a handgun in the air near a residential neighborhood, a man from Alton with a prior firearm-related felony faces a new pair of criminal charges.
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Jonathan F. Johnson, 22, of Alton, was charged with reckless discharge of a firearm and aggravated assault on March 22, 2024. Johnson allegedly pointed a firearm at an individual and discharged it near the 1300 block of Taylor St. in Alton, endangering the bodily safety of the individual and other nearby residents.
A petition to deny Johnson’s pretrial describes the incident as follows:
“Officers responded to shots fired in the 1300 block of Taylor St. Officers contacted residents … who provided that defendant and victim were in domestic argument,” the petition states. “During said argument, defendant discharged a firearm multiple times while located outside of the residence. Defendant fled prior to officers’ arrival and was later detained.”
The petition notes Johnson had a prior firearm-related conviction in 2020 in Madison County and was on probation at the time of this latest offense. It argues his pretrial release would pose “a real and present threat to the physical safety of any person, persons or the community.”
A Detention Order was later filed, granting the petition and denying Johnson’s pretrial release. According to that order, a verbal altercation between Johnson and an individual was seemingly calming down when suddenly, as he was being walked out of the residence, he “pointed a semiautomatic handgun at her.”
The victim ran back inside the house, where another resident went to the front door, looked outside, and saw Johnson “standing in the roadway, with his left arm extended in the air,” watching as Johnson fired three shots into the air.
“Officers located 3 spent .40 caliber shell casings in the described location,” the detention order states. “Officers located the defendant nearby, but they were unable to locate the firearm.
“The defendant has shown a willful disregard for the terms of his probation and supervision and his actions have escalated over time. In this case, he pointed a firearm at the victim and then recklessly discharged a firearm in the air without regard to others being present in the area.”
The Alton Police Department presented the case against Johnson, in which he faces a Class 4 felony for reckless discharge of a firearm and a Class A misdemeanor for aggravated assault.
The state’s motion for pretrial detention was granted, and court records indicate Johnson was remanded to jail to be held until his initial appearance in court.
The issuance of charges is based solely upon probable cause and is not an indication of guilt. All subjects charged with criminal offenses are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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