Questions remain after a man was shot and killed by a neighbor outside a bar in Mecosta County this weekend.
Police say Randall Jensen shot and killed John Mast outside the Moe-Z Inn in Morley, Saturday night. Monday he was hit with six felony charges in court.
“To me, it’s not right,” says Mast’s sister, Rachel Deteiler, “He shouldn’t have gone out like this.”
The two knew each other and had a rocky history as neighbors but of the family and villagers I spoke with, nobody expected it to escalate to a murder.
“It sounded like this guy was just out for a kill and my brother stepped in,” says Detweiler.
Mecosta County Sheriff Todd Purcell says that Jensen was drinking at the bar for a while, maybe had about six cocktails, before entering and exiting the bar twice. The second time holding a handgun and pointing it at people in the bar.
“At that point one of the other patrons, the deceased, hollered at him, mentioned something to him got his attention,” says Purcell, “At which time the suspect went directly to him, grabbed him by the shoulder, pointed the gun at them and took him outside the door.”
“I don’t know why or what was the motive here,” says Detweiler.
Jensen was actually a former sheriff deputy with the county but after some domestic issues, he resigned. His parents say since then he had been on medication and should not be drinking. Police are not ready to say if that was the determining factor in the crimes.
“I know they knew each other, I wouldn’t classify them as friends but I know they knew each other,” says Purcell.
Now while a family grieves for a fallen loved one, they are taking solace in his actions. Saying him stepping up possibly saved others from being shot.
“He went out a hero he saved a lot of peoples lives,” says Detweiler.
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