Santa Rosa man arrested after allegedly firing shotgun in apartment

(BCN) — Officers arrested a Santa Rosa man on Saturday after he allegedly fired off a modified shotgun in his apartment, the Santa Rosa Police Department said.

Officers learned of a possible “explosion” at about 3:46 a.m. Saturday morning when the department was notified about activity in the 300 block of Harvest Lane.

Investigators believe that Jonathan St. Jern, 42, was inside his bedroom in his apartment on Harvest Lane when he accidentally discharged a shotgun he had modified himself. The blast shot through a bedroom wall and into an adjacent occupied room in the same apartment. The blast didn’t hurt anyone, police said.

St. Jern was on probation in Sonoma County and was not allowed to possess weapons, according to police. His probation terms allowed warrantless search and seizure by law enforcement, so at 6 p.m., officers went to the Harvest Lane location and residents in the apartments around St. Jern’s were evacuated out of caution.

Officers initially spoke with a roommate. While doing so, St. Jern allegedly ran out the rear of the residence, but was quickly apprehended by officers. Police allege he was in possession of an unconventional, homemade 9mm pistol at the time of his arrest.

Before the probation search, officers sent in a drone to search the residence for additional subjects or problematic weaponry, police said. Police K-9 “Ghost,” who is a 3-year-old Belgian Malinois and specifically trained for firearm detection, responded to the scene with his handler after the drone.

Ghost alerted to different areas of the apartment, and officers located a grenade. The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad then responded to the scene. The grenade was determined to be inert.

Other items allegedly recovered were spent shotgun shells, nunchakus, a variety of knives, ammunition for both handguns and shotguns, multiple firearm weapon parts, makeshift weapons, and suspected fentanyl.

St. Jern was booked into jail on suspicion of multiple weapons crimes, obstructing a police officer, possession of a controlled substance, discharging a firearm in a negligent manner, and being in possession of a controlled substance while armed. He is being held on $31,000 bail.

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