A 25-year-old Lawrence man was arrested Thursday night in the 300 block of Michigan Street after allegedly firing an assault rifle on numerous occasions.
Miguel Ayala was arrested shortly before midnight Thursday, and was charged in Douglas County District Court with criminal discharge of a firearm, criminal possession of a firearm, distributing drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia. He's being held on a $26,800 bond.
According to Lawrence Police Sgt. Trent McKinley, officers responded to the 300 block of Michigan Street twice, both times after receiving a report of gunshots outside a residence. On the first call, about 10 p.m. Thursday, police didn't locate any shell casings.
However, when they returned at 11:30, officers found spent shell casings from a rifle outside a home. When police arrived, the occupants of the home shut the lights off. A occupant eventually came to the door, and after talking with that person, police determined Ayala twice had fired several rounds from an assault rifle outside the home.
Police seized guns and a "significant amount of drugs" from the home. An infant was present when officers arrived, and was turned over to a relative not involved in Thursday's incident.
Ayala was also arrested in September for an incident at Saint's Bar, 2329 Iowa St., in which police said Ayala threatened bar employees after being thrown out of the bar. Police said that when they arrived, Ayala resisted arrest and police found a gun in Ayala's possession.
He had been free on a $25,000 bond in that case, which is scheduled for trial in January.
Comments
superswagg56 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Not the sharpest tool in the shed, eh?
AlfVenison 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Not the freshest metaphor either.
jhawkinsf 5 months, 3 weeks ago
It's just a matter of time until that gun of his winds up killing someone.
spoiled 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Blame it on the gun.
smitty 5 months, 3 weeks ago
If only this criminal knows how to fire a gun at delusions without hitting anything he could just go to rehab, keep his guns, and go free as we have recently witnessed with Olin's recent melt down.
Liberty275 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Why is he not being charged by the feds with possessing an assault weapon?
hipper_than_hip 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Is it against the law to own a semi-auto rifle?
vertigo 5 months, 3 weeks ago
An "assault rifle" by definition, is a fully automatic (or burst capable) rifle and is illegal. The title is misleading if the idiot was shooting a semi auto rifle.
oneeye_wilbur 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Drugs? Really now and Khatib claims things are improving.
RoeDapple 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Assault rifle? Or semi-auto rifle made in the same style?
Armored_One 5 months, 3 weeks ago
If he held the gun over someone's head and shook it until the ammunition fell out, would he be charged with assault or just peppering?
beatrice 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Oh ... that is just terrible!
Thanks for the chuckle.
Easy_Does_It 5 months, 3 weeks ago
You guys are not news paper editors, assault weapons sell papers. Daisy pellet guns are a yawner.
beatrice 5 months, 3 weeks ago
"When police arrived, the occupants of the home shut the lights off."
I guess it failed to work after the police knocked and he yelled, "Nobody's home."
deec 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Dave's not here, man.
Cheech and Chong - Dave's Not Here by themostample
beatrice 5 months, 3 weeks ago
"He's being held on a $26,800 bond." -- Of course he is. I mean, it isn't like he poses a danger to society or anything, so no reason to set an unreasonably high bond.
And $26,800? Was this number pulled from a hat at random?
BitterClinger 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Did the "assault" rifle look like this? by BitterClinger
bearded_gnome 5 months, 3 weeks ago
oh heck, he'll probably just get probation, based on recent cases.
ljreader 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Looks like he got his hands on a Fast and Furious Special.
ascgrown 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Probably got it at Wal-Mart. They sell M-4s with all the trimmings now.
hipper_than_hip 5 months, 3 weeks ago
I wish our Wal-Marts would get with the program and stock guns.
LarryNative 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Why wasn't Ayala taken to the hospital? This sounds like he had a bad reaction to his medication. There is a precedence in this town that if you go on a shooting rampage in your neighborhood, it must be a medical emergency and Olin, I mean Ayala, should have been treated and released with no charges.
smitty 5 months, 1 week ago
Ayala is only 25 and still has catch up time to fry his liver and brain before he can qualify for that privledge.
jhorus 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Note: an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle is not an assault rifle. Assault rifles are auto (or burst fire). the AR in an AR-15 does not stand for "assault rifle". It's for the original manufacturer ArmaLite.
Civilians can own a fully-automatic weapon if it was manufactured before 1986 and have the proper paperwork.
jhorus 5 months, 3 weeks ago
I just wish people would stop calling those "scary-looking" black guns assault guns.
Yes, I own one. Yes, it's legal. Yes, it's semi-auto.
Of course, if the weapon in the story had a (non registered) drop-in auto sear or a lightning link that made it fully-auto, then that would be illegal. :)
smitty 5 months, 1 week ago
The semi-automatic(bushmaster 223?) that was used in the Conn massacre is called an assult rifle.
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