‘Hotheaded’ 19-year-old shoots man with crossbow on highway, Missouri cops say
A Missouri man shot a stranger with a crossbow while trying to goad him into a fight on the highway, authorities said.
Jack Thomas Farlow, 19, of Ste. Genevieve was arrested Oct. 10 on a first-degree assault charge, according to court records. He is also facing an armed criminal action charge.
McClatchy News reached out to Farlow’s attorney Oct. 17 for comment but did not immediately hear back.
A Ste. Genevieve County sheriff’s deputy responded Oct. 9 shortly after 11 p.m. to a report that a man had been shot, and found the victim with “an arrow lodged into his chest,” according to a probable cause statement.
The victim was flown to a St. Louis hospital. Court records did not include the man’s condition.
A man traveling with the victim that night told investigators they drove in from Illinois to buy cigarettes because they were cheaper in Missouri.
Farlow and his friends, who were regular customers at the gas station where the two Illinois men stopped to stock up, approached them and pointed out their “odd purchase,” a clerk told authorities.
After the two Illinois men left the store in their pickup truck, Farlow’s group got in their vehicle and followed them, according to court records.
The group caught up to the truck, driving next to them on Highway 61 before Farlow fired his crossbow at it from the front passenger seat, according to the probable cause statement.
Farlow’s arrow shattered the truck’s driver side window and struck the victim, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, authorities said.
When asked if he “was trying to kill” the victim, Farlow said no, telling investigators that he is “young and hotheaded” and was trying to shoot out their tire so they would stop and fight him, court records show.
Documents do not specify why Farlow wanted to fight the men.
Farlow was booked at the Ste. Genevieve County Detention Center on a $100,000 cash-only bond, court records show.
Ste. Genevieve is about a 65-mile drive south from St. Louis.
This story was originally published October 17, 2024 at 10:33 AM with the headline "‘Hotheaded’ 19-year-old shoots man with crossbow on highway, Missouri cops say."
