ST. FRANCOIS COUNTY • A man is facing drug and weapons charges that are connected to a search of a home here last week that led to the fatal shooting of another man by a Missouri state trooper.
Garry Triplett, of Bismarck, Mo., faces drugs and weapons charges. The case is connected to the fatal police shooting of a man during a search search by the Missouri State Highway Patrol on Jan. 8, 2019.
Garry William Triplett, 32, is charged with three counts of delivery of a controlled substance for allegedly selling methamphetamine and marijuana. He also faces charges of possessing and attempting to manufacture meth and of unlawful possession and use of a weapon by a felon.
Triplett is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail. Court records list his residence as the 1400 block of Walnut Street in Bismarck and show at least one previous conviction for theft.
The new investigation of Triplett by the Missouri State Highway Patrol led to the execution of a search warrant on Jan. 8 at a home in the 5100 block of Hilltop Road outside of Leadwood where Triplett was staying, court documents say.
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According to Highway Patrol officials, after police announced their presence at the home over a PA system, a man came to the door holding a rifle. When he raised the gun toward the officers, a Missouri Highway Patrol trooper opened fire, fatally shooting him.
The man is identified in the court documents as the homeowner, Michael W. Mobley.
The documents don’t say if Triplett was inside the residence when officers arrived, but officials have said four people were detained after the shooting.
According to the court documents, the Mineral Area Drug Task Force used informers to buy meth from Triplett twice in October. On Dec. 31, Triplett posted photos to his Facebook page of himself holding and shooting an AR-15-style rifle and an AK-47-style rifle. Investigators believe the photos were taken at the residence on Hilltop Road.
On Jan. 4, four days before the officers went to search the Hilltop Road residence, an undercover trooper saw drug paraphernalia, a rifle and large amounts of cash in the home and heard Triplett make a phone call to purchase meth and marijuana to resell.
When the home was searched after the shooting, police found weapons, drug paraphernalia, marijuana and a substance that tested positive as meth as well as a small meth lab inside a backpack, according to the court documents.
