An incident that occurred this past Tuesday in Perry resulted in Perry Police Chief Eric Vaughn receiving a gunshot wound to the upper thigh and a Perry man being arrested for attempted murder. 

According to the Department of Criminal Investigation, 30-year-old Jeremiah Messner is being charged with a Class B Felony for attempted murder, a Class C Felony for trafficking stolen weapons and Class D Felonies for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and going armed with intent from an incident that occurred at approximately 7 a.m. this past Tuesday morning involving the shooting of Perry Police Chief Eric Vaughn.

The investigation by the Department of Criminal Investigation shows that at 4:47 a.m. Perry officers responded to a call that Messner allegedly shot the window out of a vehicle within the city limits of Perry. Officers with the Perry Police Department, Dallas County Sheriff’s Office and Iowa State Patrol then responded and located Messner at 6:27 a.m. Tuesday and began a rolling standoff near West Eighth Street and St. Paul Street and Messner was armed with a handgun.

During the negotiation process officers got Messner to drop the weapon. DCI says law enforcement then attempted to apprehend Messner who then allegedly made it back to his weapon and a struggle ensued which resulted in Vaughn receiving a single close range gunshot wound to the upper thigh around 7 a.m that morning. Vaughn was flown by air ambulance to a hospital in Des Moines and was later released.