photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center is pictured in March of 2022. The center houses the Douglas County District Court and other county services.

A shooting that left two people injured in rural Douglas County was the result of a late-night family dispute involving multiple individuals, illegal drugs, alcohol intoxication and gunplay, according to a recently released police affidavit in the case.

The alleged shooter is Dalton Vale Turner, 21, of Lawrence, who is charged with two felony counts of aggravated battery and one felony count of aggravated assault, according to charging documents.

Also charged is Chandlor Saber Matney, 24, of Lawrence, who faces one misdemeanor count of assault and one misdemeanor count of domestic battery.

The charges relate to an incident in the early hours of Feb. 1 in the 500 block of North 900 Road, south of Clinton Lake in rural Douglas County. Police responded to a residence in the area after a 47-year-old man called 911 and said he and his 45-year-old wife had been shot, as the Journal-World previously reported. Both were taken to a Topeka hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.

During the men’s first appearance in Douglas County District Court on Feb. 2, Matney told a judge that he is Turner’s brother. According to charging documents, one of the shooting victims is Matney’s mother, and the other is her husband.

According to the affidavit:

The male victim told police that he got home from work just before midnight, and shortly thereafter he heard several gunshots outside. He said Matney and Turner lived with him and his wife and frequently fired guns on the property after drinking alcohol and smoking a concentrated form of marijuana. He said they were very intoxicated that night. The man confronted Matney and Turner when they came into the house and asked why they were shooting so late at night. Matney told the man that he wasn’t “the triggerman,” according to the affidavit.

Allegations in an affidavit have not been proved in court but are intended to show probable cause for an arrest.

The man said he then went to get some beers from the garage, and when he returned he had another confrontation with Matney and Turner. The man said it was a tense conversation, and Turner had to convince Matney to walk away from the situation. Matney went to the basement and Turner went upstairs, he said.

A few minutes later, the man heard a gunshot — apparently from inside the house. The man checked on Matney in the basement, who again told him he wasn’t shooting anything. Then the man went upstairs to check on his wife, who was sleeping. Turner then began following the man through the house holding a 9mm pistol, the man said.

The man returned to the basement, with Turner following him, and said to Matney and Turner that he could smell gunshot residue in the house, to which Turner denied that anyone had fired a gun inside. The man said Turner then asked him if he wanted to hear what a gunshot inside the house sounded like, according to the affidavit.

Turner then fired three rounds into the basement walls before turning the gun on the man as the two stood about a foot apart, the man told police. The man then grabbed Turner’s wrist, trying to take the gun away, and the man and Turner fell to the ground in a struggle. While they wrestled, Turner continued to twist and to fire the gun. The man was shot in the leg during the struggle. He later required nine staples to close the wound.

While the man was fighting with Turner, Matney jumped on top of the man and pulled him off Turner. Matney put the man in a “sleeper hold,” also known as a rear naked choke hold. Matney asked the man if he wanted to “live or die” while grinding the man’s head into the ground, according to the affidavit. Turner then got up and ran off. The man told police he believed Matney could or would kill him.

Matney was known in 2020 as “The Marine” when he competed as an MMA fighter for the Gladiator Fighting Association. According to Tapology.com, an MMA statistics and records website, Matney’s record was 4-0 and he won three out of four fights using a rear naked choke hold, but he has not competed since Sept 19, 2020.

The man’s wife then came down the stairs, yelling at them to stop — and screaming that she had been shot.

The woman told police that she had awakened to a commotion. She said she ran downstairs after she heard yelling from the basement that sounded like her “boys.” While going down the stairs, she was shot in the foot. She told police that she could not identify the shooter. She later underwent surgery on her right heel.

Turner was arrested while driving a short distance from the residence, and Matney was arrested at the house.

Turner allegedly told police that he and Matney had resolved to beat up the man because the man was physically abusing someone and that Turner grabbed a “9 mil” and fired the gun at the ground to prevent the man from attacking Matney during a confrontation. Police attempted to interview Matney, but he was too intoxicated and volatile, according to the affidavit.

Police found multiple shell casings in the driveway and basement of the home, a disassembled handgun in Turner’s bedroom and another pistol in the kitchen.

Matney was released on Feb. 2 on a $1,500 own-recognizance bond, meaning he did not have to put up any money to be released but may be fined if he fails to appear for court. Matney is scheduled in court for a scheduling conference on Feb. 22.

Turner was released on Feb. 3 on a $15,000 cash or surety bond, according to the Douglas County Jail booking log. Turner is scheduled to appear in court on March 22 for a status update.