Woman Allegedly Pointed Gun at Child, Fired Shots Outside Apartment
BY MN CRIME STAFF
A woman is charged after Saint Paul police say she pointed a gun at a child and threatened to shoot several people before firing rounds outside an apartment building early Dec. 7.
The criminal complaint outlines a series of escalating confrontations that started inside the unit and ended with 34-year-old Spring Jonae Mason being arrested and a handgun recovered from a Ford Escape.
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Prosecutors charged Mason with second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and threats of violence after officers were sent around 12:30 a.m. to the apartment on the 800 block of Hazel Street North for a report of a woman threatening others with a gun. Dispatchers updated officers en route that the woman had fired the gun outside the building and police later found spent casings outside the apartment.
Officers learned the shooter was in a 2014 Ford Escape and was seen leaving the parking lot. They stopped the vehicle and found Mason in the backseat. The driver told officers the gun was somewhere inside the Escape. Police arrested Mason and later found a Glock handgun hidden under the spare tire cover. Mason had a valid permit to carry, according to the court documents.
The driver told police she had picked up Mason and a friend from a bar because they were drunk and that Mason became angry and argued when they returned to the apartment. The driver said Mason grabbed her gun, removed the magazine and set it on a counter. When the driver told her “No,” Mason went outside and fired two to three rounds into the air.
Officers also spoke with a mother who arrived at the apartment after getting a call from her daughter asking to be picked up because of an altercation. The woman told officers that Mason is dating the children’s father. She said Mason began arguing with her immediately and said she was going to get her gun and shoot her, the children’s father and anyone else. The woman said she went into a bedroom, heard Mason leave the apartment, then return and begin breaking things. She then heard three gunshots outside.
Her daughter told officers Mason became angry earlier because things weren’t picked up in the apartment. The younger children began crying and Mason got in the girl’s face, the documents say, until the children’s father pushed her away. The situation calmed until the girl’s mother arrived. The girl told police Mason said she was going to kill her mother.
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Mason then went to the car, got her gun and returned. She allegedly pointed the gun at the children’s father. The girl said she stepped between them and told Mason to take it outside because there were kids in the home. She told police Mason then pointed the gun at her while her younger siblings stood behind her. She told them to duck as Mason said she would kill everyone in the apartment, according to the court documents. Mason then went outside and fired the gun.
Another child told officers Mason argued with family members and threatened her and her siblings with a black pistol. She also heard three shots after Mason left the apartment.
Police say Mason provided a preliminary breath test that registered a 0.15 alcohol concentration. After being advised of her rights, she told officers her daughter had texted her asking to be picked up because the girl’s father was drunk. She claimed the father and his girlfriend tried to fight her, so she took her daughter outside and fired three warning shots. She denied having the gun when she went into the apartment.
If convicted, Mason faces up to seven years in prison on the assault charge and up to five years on the threats of violence charge.
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