FERRELVIEW, Mo. — Some neighbors at a mobile home park in Ferrelview are worried about their elderly neighbor, who is now charged with a felony count of unlawful use of a weapon, and violation of an order of protection. The suspect is 78 year old Roy Sportsman.
“I was sitting in my room and I heard a bam and I went outside and looked, and he was standing in my driveway firing his shotgun over my house,” said Nick Warger, who lives across the street from Sportsman.
Warger says two weeks ago Sportsman fired off his guns several times as he stood in the driveway of him and his roommate’s home.
“He came across the street and he was dropping bullets and he even pointed the gun at me and threatened to kill me and my roommate,” said Warger. “Other times he aimed the gun at us after he accused us of stealing his mashed potatoes and light bulbs from his home.”
Platte County deputies arrested Sportsman, and prosecutors later charged him.
Sportsman, a former TWA mechanic, is currently free on bond. He returns to court next Tuesday.
Some neighbors believe the 78-year-old suspect could be battling the early stages of dementia.
“He has a different weapon on a different day. He has a revolver, a pistol and a 410 shotgun, ” said Jared Wittwer about his neighbor.
One mother who lives nearby is also very concerned.
“You can’t just go around firing gunshots into the air where people like me have babies. It’s sad. He needs to get help for his illness,” said Maggie Rogers, a nurse, and mother of two toddlers.
