MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A man has been charged after he allegedly shot his girlfriend outside a Days Inn in Bloomington.
Jacob McPheeters is charged with one count of second-degree murder, one count of first-degree assault, one count of assault with a dangerous weapon, and one count of possession of a firearm.
According to the criminal complaint, on July 24, Bloomington police officers responded to a shooting at 3:15 a.m. outside of the Days Inn Hotel on Normandale Boulevard.
Officers met with a hotel employee who said he was outside the hotel when he heard a gunshot coming from the north end of the parking lot. He said he saw several people gathered around a camper. Some people were supposedly yelling, and appeared as if one of them had been shot because the witness said she was leaning on another person.
Officers then learned a woman had been brought to the Fairview Southdale Hospital emergency room because of a gunshot wound. They saw two very large holes in her upper torso that looked to be an entry wound and an exit wound.
The victim said she had been shot by her boyfriend, 28-year-old Jacob McPheeters. They had gotten into an argument outside the Days Inn, where he allegedly shot her. The woman was transported to the ICU at Hennepin County Medical Center.
Officers then spoke with two witnesses: a boyfriend and girlfriend who were staying in the camper. They were friends with McPheeters and his girlfriend. That night, they said the two had come to their camper, already in the middle of an argument. McPheeters said he was going to prison and he didn’t trust his girlfriend. McPheeters already had pending drug charges in Wisconsin.
According to the witnesses, McPheeters went over to the camper holding a semi-automatic handgun. He started grabbing his girlfriend and tried to drag her out of the camper. At one point, he put the gun in his pocket and started choking her; one of the witnesses took the opportunity to take the gun from him and put it in her car.
McPheeters then went to his car and came back with a revolver. His girlfriend was standing outside the camper with the witnesses. The witnesses said he shot her at “point blank” range. He left in his car with his girlfriend, and the witnesses believe he fled to Wisconsin. They also thought McPheeters had pipe bombs in his car.
According to documents, investigators used McPheeters’ phone to find him later that morning. After he was arrested, officers found a semi-automatic handgun and a .44 caliber revolver handgun inside the car. They also found three pipe bombs in the car.
McPheeters had several previous felony convictions, including a third-degree controlled substance offense from February 2019.
If convicted, McPheeters could face up to 65 years in prison.