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Spent shotgun shells, live ammunition allegedly found in vehicle

 

A Mapleview man police believe to be the gunman in a July 20 southeast Austin shooting incident made his first appearance on Wednesday in Mower County District Court.

Wyatt Harley Dahle, 19, has been charged with felony drive by shooting – toward person, felony drive by shooting – toward occupied building, and felony second-degree assault.

According to the court complaint, law enforcement was dispatched to a report of gunshots fired at about 12:53 a.m. on July 20 in the area of Fourth Street and Sixth Avenue Southeast in Austin. Dispatch advised that a white car and an orange Ford Focus were fleeing the area. One witness advised that a subject in the white car had fired the shots.

An officer spotted a white Chrysler 200 speeding north on Fourth Street Southwest and recognized Ameisha Kay Gunsallus, 19, of Austin as the driver. He initiated a traffic stop, pulling the vehicle over in the 500 block of Second Avenue Southwest. As the vehicle stopped, Dahle, who was wearing a gray tank top, jumped out of the vehicle and fled on foot. As the officer pursued Dahle, he heard tires squeal and observed Gunsallus drive away at a high rate of speed.

Dahle evaded arrest after climbing over a privacy fence, but the officer located a 12 gauge shotgun on the grass near the curb where the Chrysler was stopped. A review of the squad car surveillance footage showed the shotgun fall out of the vehicle as Dahle exited. It was later determined the shotgun’s serial number matched that of a shotgun reported stolen in Waseca County.

Another officer made contact with a woman in the 500 block of Sixth Avenue Southeast. She reported she heard one or two “big booms.” The officer knew the woman had a white Chrysler. When he asked where it was, she said it was with her son in Rochester.

Dispatch then advised that a residence in the 600 block of Sixth Avenue Southeast had been struck by gunfire. The officer went to that location and noted that the house hit by gunfire was occupied by at least one person and no one was injured. Several holes that appeared to be from shotgun pellets were observed on the west side of the residence.

The officer also observed a black Lincoln Town Car nearby that he recognized as belonging to Dahle. An adult male at the residence told police a person who was in the Lincoln was the shooter and that he witnessed the shooter get picked up by a white Chrysler. An officer observed shotgun shells on the rear floor of the Lincoln when looking through the window. 

The man reported that he and another man came outside to grab some things out of his truck and observed an orange SUV speeding north on Sixth Street Southeast with its lights off. The orange SUV then turned west on 6th Avenue Southeast. They drove off to confront the driver of the orange SUV and found it occupied by two subjects. He said that after an exchange of words, he began to drive away and a subject from the black Lincoln fired three shots at him. He described the shooter as a light-skinned male with tattoos “all over” and wearing a tank top.

Gunsallus was located and arrested at her residence in the 500 block of Sixth Avenue Southeast at about 3:14 a.m. on July 20. The Chrysler was also located at the residence.

On July 22, police were granted a search warrant on the Lincoln and located five spent shotgun shell casings and two live shotgun rounds in the back seat. They also located a .22 caliber rifle in the trunk.

Dahle will appear in court again on Aug. 9.