Two teens charged with hate crime after shooting damages Mennonite church in Morgan County
By Stephanie Southey
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MORGAN COUNTY, Missouri (KOMU) — Four people, including two juveniles, are in custody, following property damage to a Morgan County church over the weekend.
The Morgan County Sheriff’s Office said it responded to Clearview Mennonite Church on Highway E early Sunday morning for a report of shots fired.
Deputies found spent 9mm shell casings and “obvious damage to the church,” according to a Facebook post from the sheriff’s office.
According to court documents, deputies saw at least 52 bullet holes outside the church. Bullets were lodged in the ceiling, walls, windows and coat racks. Damage is estimated to be at least $1,000.
Four suspects were identified and taken into custody.
Deputies also arrested Bryce Martin, 18, of Fortuna, and Zachary Stauffer, 18, of Versailles. They’re being held without bond at the Morgan County Jail.
Martin and Stauffer each face charges of first-degree property damage, armed criminal action and property damage motivated by discrimination. Martin faces an additional count of unlawful use of a weapon.
KOMU spoke with several members of the Mennonite community who live near the Clearview church house.
Several of the Mennonites said that they were “concerned” about the vandalism. One who lives with his family directly behind the church said that the windows and siding of the building, which were primarily damaged, had been replaced within the last year.
Two of the members of the Clearview congregation said that they do believe the acts were committed deliberately on their church house.
While observing the church house along its circle driveway, KOMU Reporter John Murphy saw bullet holes visible on three sides of the church.
Three 9mm handguns, ammunition and a vehicle were seized after the arrests, according to the sheriff’s office.
Court documents say deputies saw a Snapchat video, which showed four teenagers riding in a car, drinking beer and shooting handguns out of the windows.
While in custody, Martin admitted to drinking alcohol in the vehicle and firing handguns out of the window with the other three teenagers, according to documents. Martin also claimed that one of the juveniles provided the guns, and that Stauffer provided the alcohol.
Martin and Stauffer had conflicting stories of who damaged the Clearview Church, according to court documents.
The report also cited Martin told deputies that the group damaged two other churches before going to Clearview. A church outside of Latham and a church on Hopewell Road were also damaged. Details on those incidents were not available.
According to Martin, they did not fire any guns at the Hopewell Road church, but all four teenagers entered the building and flipped over pews.
Martin and Stauffer appeared for an arraignment Tuesday morning.
According to online records, Martin and Stauffer each waived their formal arraignments and pleaded not guilty. The judge denied a bond change for both defendants and scheduled bond appearance hearings for 9 a.m. March 29.
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