Guilty Plea For Austin Shooting That Led to Mayo Clinic Lockdown
Austin, MN (KROC-AM News) - An Austin man today entered a guilty plea to a felony assault charge stemming from a shooting in early June that prompted a temporary lockdown of the Mayo Clinic Health System Hospital in Austin.
34-year-old Denroy Jeffers was originally charged with second-degree attempted murder. Under the plea agreement, the attempted murder charge was replaced with the third-degree assault charge, and the two other felony assault charges were dismissed.
According to the criminal complaint, Jeffers was accused of shooting another man in the chest while the victim was fighting with another man in the basement of a residence located less than a mile from the Mayo Clinic Health System facilities. The court document says an eyewitness indicated Jeffers was holding a handgun and was going to pistol whip the victim when the gun fell to the ground and discharged.
The shooting victim was initially transported to the Austin hospital before he was airlifted to Rochester for treatment at St. Marys Hospital. The court record says he required emergency surgery to repair the gunshot wound to his chest.
Jeffers fled from the scene but later surrendered to Austin police at the Mower County Law Enforcement Center. The criminal complaint says he was accompanied by a woman who told officers the gun used in the shooting was in the trunk of his vehicle.
A sentencing hearing for Jefferson has not been scheduled. The plea agreement recommends a sentence of five years probation. Under State Sentencing Guidelines, the presumptive sentence for the third-degree assault conviction is one year in prison.
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