Posted on 03/05/2018 5:19:37 PM PST by ButThreeLeftsDo
The Ramsey County Attorney's Office has announced charges have been filed against Christopher Lloyd Stowe, the man in whose home the county's sheriff's department said it seized a cache of guns, ammunition and possible explosive devices Friday.
Stowe has been charged with two felony counts of unlawful possession of a machine gun/short-barreled gun and one count of negligent storage of a firearm in the presence of a child, a gross misdemeanor.
He made his first court appearance Monday. Bail was set at $25,000, the Associated Press reported. And Stowe remained in jail afterward.
Stowe's wife Lisa and their 13-year-old son were also arrested following the search of their home on the 4200 block of Desoto Street in Vadnais Heights Friday.
Lisa Stowe has been charged with negligent storage of firearms and is currently out on bail, KSTP confirmed. The release Monday said the 13-year-old has been charged with threats of violence. His first appearance in Ramsey County Juvenile Court was also scheduled for Monday afternoon.
"These are very good people," said Samuel Surface, an attorney for Christopher Stowe. "We're talking about a hard working family. They have never had any criminal issues that I'm aware of."
The raid Friday was prompted by Jessica Pigg, whose child is a classmate of the 13-year-old at the Academy for Sciences and Agriculture. Pigg said the student threatened to shoot up the school, as well as her son. Pigg said her son texted her about the threats Wednesday and asked if he could stay home from school. She said she called the school to discuss the issue. Pigg claims an administrator downplayed the issue and referred to it as a conversation that got out of hand.
The criminal complaint against Christopher Stowe states Ramsey County deputies first responded to a report of the threats on March 1. A complaining witness reportedly said the 13-year-old had "told a classmate that he was going to kill him and that he had a list of students he was going to kill."
The complaint alleges a deputy responded to the school, where officials reportedly told him the 13-year-old had been suspended for the threats. The release states the deputy heard that when the 13-year-old was being removed from class that day, he was alleged to have said, "Hide in the closet when I come back, because I will start shooting then."
However, the complaint said when speaking with the 13-year-old at his residence that day, the boy said he did not mean the threats and would never do it again. The release claims the deputy also spoke with Lisa Stowe who is alleged to have said the child "did not have access to weapons and that there were no weapons in the home." The next day, the complaint goes on to state, law enforcement officials executed a search warrant, having arrived at the residence when the 13-year-old was home alone.
Both Christopher and Lisa Stowe were reported to have been on their way home. When Christopher Stowe arrived, he reportedly told an investigator the guns were his. But, the complaint claims, he declined further questioning without a lawyer present.
The complaint alleges the search turned up a "significant number of firearms, ammunition and firearms parts. Law enforcement officials also located two possible explosive devices."
It also alleges law enforcement recovered several trigger kits hidden in the ceiling of the residence, which the complaint claims appeared "to be conversion kits for converting weapons to automatic weapons." Deputies also reportedly recovered literature on how to convert a semi-automatic weapon into an automatic one. The complaint alleges law enforcement officials observed several of the firearms were loaded and located out in the open, accessible to children.
According to the criminal complaint against Lisa Stowe filed Monday, multiple pistols inside a dresser drawer in the master bedroom, all with magazines reportedly fully loaded with bullets. And a pistol was allegedly found inside a book on a master bedroom nightstand, fully loaded with magazines containing 9 millimeter bullets.
ATF agents reportedly determined one of the guns met the legal definition of a machine gun and another met the legal definition for a short-barreled shotgun under Minnesota statutes.
Mark Stowe, the 13-year-old's grandfather, confirmed to KSTP over the weekend that the family has many guns and said they are part of a collection. He said most of them are unloaded and are kept in safes.
However, when the sheriff's office arrived Friday, they claimed some guns could be easily accessed by the teen. "There was something that had the potential look of a repeat in Florida, which needed to be investigated and I think panic set in," Mark Stowe said. "I believe the sheriff did a knee-jerk reaction. Instead of calling the principal, he did this. I think he screwed up and screwed up real bad."
Both Christopher and Lisa Stowe are next expected in court April 12.
Thank God they searched the place.
I just hope this kid gets the help he needs.
Dumb kid running his mouth ends up getting his parents in a lot of trouble...
Don’t know about Mom, but Dad needs to be in trouble.
Better call Saul!
Maybe not. The BATF have been very wrong before, could be wrong again now.
Who leaves a 13 year old autistic child home alone with ready access to loaded weapons?
I’m sorry folks but I don’t believe one word of this story. We had better watch out or these raids are going to become common and eventually tyrannical.
I never had an autistic kid but I generally had at least a loaded pistol in a bedroom drawer once my kids were old enough to understand gun safety. They do have quick access safes now that were not available then. In hindsight it would have been much cheaper for the parents to buy a couple of those I guess.
I generally do not take anything the BATF says at face value.
Agree. You will note that these experts “determined” several things .... ssssttttrreeetttching as always.
As far as I know he hasnt killed an innocent Australian woman seeking help. However, his case seems to be moving at the speed of light compared to a not so recent murder case.
I'm also not understanding how a 13 year old who may have said something inappropriate results in a warrant to search the parents home. I could see law enforcement going to talk with the parents but we can't have judges issuing warrants because you child says something that kids say everyday. So every gun owner in the US who has a child in school has got to live in fear their child could say something or another student could just claim they said something and that's going to bring a swat team to your door tearing you house apart?
I really think it's time for that constitutional convention. Government is out of control.
I'd give a shiny nickel to know the "reporter's" emphasis in this sentence.
OMG! He had millimeter bullets! Nine of'em!
OR
There's Homer's copy of Mein Kampf with "Shooting Illustrated" stuck between the pages.
45ACP vs 9MM. Which is best for home defense!! Ver. 2.340.120.10³
No, I ain't drunk. d;^)
The 13 year old might not have autism, or might not have severe symptoms.
According to his parents and Grandfather, he has autism. Nobody has come forward to dispute this, not the school, not the neighbors.
Whether he does or does not, you don’t get to make threats.
You don’t leave 13 year olds alone on a school day with guns that are loaded and available.
I wouldn’t trust the batf to tell me thw sun would rise tomorrow. I wouldn’t have any problem at all believing they planted everything they ended up “discovering”. The batf is the MOST evil of all feral agencies. Personally I’d have no problem with folks hunting them down like the rabid dogs they are.
In 2000 a 14 year old girl could not access her family's firearms and was unable to defend her siblings.
Or search Johnothan David Bruce 8/23/2000.
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