‘Enraged’ man grabs gun at his birthday party and fires at police helicopter, feds say
A California man’s birthday celebration ended in gunfire when he “became enraged” and grabbed a rifle from his safe, according to federal prosecutors.
Following an “outburst,” Justin Derek Jennings unloaded a magazine full of ammo into his Orange County home with his family members inside — and tried to shoot down an Orange County Sheriff’s Department helicopter during the March 9 incident, prosecutors said.
Jennings, 39, of Laguna Niguel, was arrested June 10 on a charge of attempting to damage, destroy, or disable an aircraft, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced in a news release.
Information regarding his legal representation wasn’t immediately available.
Jennings’ 39th birthday party ended “acrimoniously” after prosecutors said he was apparently drinking and got angry, causing most of his family to leave while his anger escalated.
The remaining family members fled Jennings’ home when he brought out a rifle and fired several shots, according to prosecutors.
His family called law enforcement and Orange County sheriff’s deputies responded as a sheriff’s department helicopter arrived in the sky and flew in circles above the house, prosecutors said.
That’s when Jennings headed to the second floor of his house and started sporadically firing at the helicopter, according to prosecutors.
He “knowingly and willfully attempted to damage, destroy, disable, and wreck aircraft N185SD, an Airbus H125 helicopter operated by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department,” an indictment filed June 5 says.
The shooting lasted for at least 20 minutes until he surrendered, prosecutors said.
Jennings stopped firing at the helicopter and stepped out of his home after speaking to a deputy, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Inside the house, authorities “seized two revolvers, two handguns, and two rifles along with multiple rounds of ammunition” as well as two magazines and a box with ammunition, prosecutors said.
The box of ammo was located on Jennings’ couch, near the window from which he had been shooting at the helicopter, according to prosecutors, who said bullet casings littered the floor of his residence.
Jennings previously faced state charges over the shooting, but the Orange County District Attorney’s “dismissed the case so the federal case against him could proceed,” prosecutors said.
He could face up to 20 years in federal prison if he’s convicted, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
The FBI and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department investigated the case, according to prosecutors.
The department declined a request for comment from McClatchy News on June 11.
This story was originally published June 11, 2024 at 12:58 PM with the headline "‘Enraged’ man grabs gun at his birthday party and fires at police helicopter, feds say."
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