Two jailed for rush-hour shootout

A long-standing feud which escalated to a gunfight on the busiest road in McMinnville ‘ next to an elementary school ‘ has left two men behind bars.

The combatants, Calvin D. Ramsey and Gregory Johnson, are both charged with reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon for the shootout which happened Wednesday around 5:30 p.m. outside Auto Expressions on Chancery Street. The clean-up shop is located next to Bobby Ray Elementary.

According to McMinnville Police Investigator Barry Powers, the gun battle was the culmination of bad blood between the men dating back to a fist fight more than three years ago. The reason for the original fight is unknown.

Powers said for some reason the feud between the men hit a boiling point again Wednesday when the two were at the clean-up shop, both armed with handguns. Neither man works at the clean-up shop, the same business which was once targeted for closure by former District Attorney Dale Potter due to allegations of drug dealing on the premises.

‘From what we understand, Johnson pulled his gun but it misfired,’ Powers said. ‘Then Ramsey returned fire, firing about three shots, with one of the rounds hitting the car Johnson was in.’

Police stopped Johnson shortly after the shootout and saw his back window was shattered and a fresh bullet hole was in one of the panels. Powers said both the 45-caliber gun wielded by Ramsey and the 38-caliber gun which misfired for Johnson have not been found. Anyone who may have helped the men dispose of the guns could face charges of aiding and abetting a felony, Powers said.

The alleged shooters are charged with Class E felonies which carry one to two years, the charges coming for the purposes of public safety for firing a weapon since neither man has charged the other with aggravated assault or attempted murder.