Andalusia police charge Opp man with shooting into vehicle

An Opp man is being held in the Covington County Jail on nine charges and a total bond of $220,000 after he shot into an occupied vehicle Wednesday afternoon.

Brayden Bryce Jowers

Brayden Bryce Jowers, 20, of Opp is charged with shooting into an occupied vehicle, a Class B felony which carries a $100,000 bond; four counts of reckless endangerment, which carries a $60,000 bond; and four counts of menacing, which carries a $60,000 bond.

Capt. Brett Holmes said the Andalusia Police Department received a report of shots fired in the parking lot of First Baptist Church just before 5 p.m. on Wednesday. The responding officer found one person near the scene, who said he heard what he thought was a car backfiring.

Soon thereafter, the APD was notified that the occupants of a vehicle that had been struck in the church parking lot was parked at the Gitty Up N Go across from Walmart.

Holmes said one of the four people in the vehicle that was hit is dating a woman with whom Jowers has a child. The two had exchanged insults over the course of several days, and had agreed to meet and fight.

Jowers told police that when he arrived in the parking lot, he saw a crowd, which prompted him to exit his vehicle with a gun because “he didn’t want the crowd to jump on him.”

Jowers allegedly fired between four and five shots, striking the car two times, and all involved fled the scene.

“Nobody got hit, and the bullets did not penetrate the car,” Holmes said.

APD investigators worked the case late into the night but could not locate the suspect. Investigators obtained warrants for his arrest, as well as a search warrant for his house, as soon as the courthouse opened Thursday, Holmes said.

The Covington County Incident Response Team executed the search warrant Thursday morning at Jowers’ home where they recovered clothing matching the descriptions given by eye witnesses, as well as a 30-round magazine, which witnesses said was in his pistol at the time of the shooting.

Later Thursday, deputies with the Covington County Sheriff’s Office located Jowers in Opp, where he was taken into custody.

Holmes expressed his appreciation to both the IRT and the Covington County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance in quickly resolving the case.

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