A man was charged Monday with aggravated assault after a report of shots fired early Sunday morning in northern Lawrence.
Travis Kopp, 38, of Perry, was booked into the Douglas County jail on suspicion of attempted, premeditated first-degree murder.
But prosecutors on Monday charged him instead with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a level-7 — or much less severe — felony charge. Attempted first-degree murder is a level-1 felony.
“A 911 caller indicated a person in a vehicle had fired a gun at a person standing near a commercial building in the area” of the 2300 block of Packer Road, Sgt. Drew Fennelly, of the Lawrence Police Department, said via email Sunday. “While officers were on the way, another person called dispatch to report a known individual had tried to shoot them.”
Fennelly said police believed the incident was connected to another incident, from Sept. 28, 2022. In that incident, police alleged that Steven C. Drake Jr., of Lawrence, had fired numerous shots at Kopp. Drake was charged with attempted first-degree murder, but he was acquitted after a jury trial in July.
Fennelly on Sunday did not specify exactly how or why police believed the incidents are related, but the charging document filed against Kopp lists Drake as the victim.
No injuries were reported Sunday, Fennelly said.
A charge of aggravated assault means that a person is alleged to have placed another person “in reasonable apprehension of immediate bodily harm with a deadly weapon” — in this case, a handgun, the complaint alleges.
Kopp appeared in court to be formally charged Monday, online court records indicate, and defense attorney Michael Clarke was appointed to represent him. He was being held in the Douglas County jail without bond on Sunday. The judge set his bond at $10,000 cash or surety, and Kopp remained in custody as of 5 p.m. Monday, jail records showed.
All arrestees and defendants in criminal cases should be presumed not guilty unless and until they are convicted.
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