Mankato man charged in trailer park shooting

A man has been charged in connection with last week’s shooting at a Mankato trailer park.

Jamie Lee Angel Bravo Mendez, 32, of Mankato, was charged with felony counts of firearm possession and 2nd-degree assault in Blue Earth County Court.

Mankato Public Safety was dispatched Tuesday to a report of shots fired at the Eastwood Manor Mobile Home Park, where they found a man with a gunshot wound to his leg.

A criminal complaint says detectives discovered that two shots had been fired through a door.  Two .380 caliber shell casings were recovered, according to the complaint.

The victim told police he had been shot through the door and didn’t see the shooter, but he’d recently had issues with Bravo-Mendez, whom he had seen with a .380 caliber firearm. A witness also told police she had heard Bravo Mendez’s voice outside at the time of the shooting.

Another witness told investigators they heard two loud noises followed by two or three people running to a vehicle and fleeing.

A third witness said he and the victim were feuding over rent money and he had been trying to get the victim out of the home.  According to the complaint, the witness left the home and returned to find the door barricaded with a shovel.  The witness climbed in through a window and left again, returning with Bravo Mendez – who was also staying at the home –  and two other people, according to court documents.  He claimed to hear gunshots from inside the home when was standing at the door.  He told police he then left with the others.

A witness who was with Bravo Mendez said the suspect pulled a gun out of his pants pockets and placed it on the floor of the vehicle.

Bravo Mendez told police he had been by the vehicle when he heard gunshots from the trailer.  He claimed he found the pistol that police allegedly discovered in his possession in the truck when he was cleaning it. Investigators say his fingerprints were found on the weapon.

Bravo Mendez is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition for life due to an aggravated robbery conviction case from 2017.