A 39-year-old remains in custody at the Platte County Detention Center facing a pair of felony charges stemming from an incident in the early morning hours of Wednesday, Feb. 4 that left his wife with a gunshot wound to her leg. Officers eventually fired at the perpetrator, wounding him, as well.
According to a probable cause statement, officers responded at around 3:45 a.m. to a residential cul-de-sac between North Congress Avenue and NW Prairie View Road, just south of Barry Road off of Interstate 29.
Upon arrival, they located a victim with a gunshot wound to her leg and found Travis D. Potter, 39, standing beside her armed with a rifle. He refused to comply, and officers fired at him, striking him an undisclosed amount of times in the right arm.
Both parties were transported to area hospitals for treatment, and Potter was later taken into custody. He faces up to life in prison on charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action and is being held on a $350,000 cash-only bond.
The victim required surgery but survived the attack.
According to her, she verbally argued with her husband the previous night, but he left the house intoxicated. He returned in the early morning hours and kicked in the door to the residence, prompting her to call police and tell him their marriage was over.
Potter left the room and returned with a rifle and told her we planned to kill her.
The victim exited the residence, and Potter followed and began firing shots, striking her once in the leg. He then became engaged in a verbal altercation with a neighbor before returning inside the residence. He came back out and demanded his wife get up before pointing the rifle at her head after she informed him she couldn’t due to the gunshot wound.
Five witnesses from neighboring residences were also interviewed.
The neighbor who confronted Potter was also threatened with a firearm and stated that he believed the accused returned with a different firearm after going back into the house. Police recovered a 7.62 caliber assault rifle in the front yard of Potter’s residence next to multiple pools of blood. They also found additional firearms and live and spent ammunition of various calibers.
Potter declined to speak to authorities but was charged the following day.