Carlton man fires gun in air, threatens girlfriend

A Carlton man faces seven felony charges relating to an early morning incident Jan. 13 in which he allegedly fired shots in the air in a manner threatening to his girlfriend.

Justin Howard Ultican, 25, faces two counts of felony assault in the second degree, two counts of felony terroristic threats, two counts of felony endangering safety by intentional discharge of a firearm and one count of felony assault on a peace officer in the fourth degree.

According to the criminal complaint:

At approximately 2:22 a.m. Jan. 13, deputies from the Carlton County Sheriff’s Department were dispatched to a residence on the 1900 block of Highway 210, after the report of a man who had fired shots into the air while standing next to his child’s mother.

Officers spoke to witnesses and learned that Ultican’s girlfriend and a female friend had arrived home to find Ultican on the porch, holding a loaded long gun. As they walked up to the porch, the women said Ultican pointed the gun in the air and fired. The complaint states that the women “were terrified and were clear that the defendant was threatening them when he fired the gun.” The couple’s 2-year-old child was inside the

residence.

Law enforcement tried repeatedly to reach Ultican inside the home for more than an hour, unsuccessfully. Officers eventually raided the home for felony probable cause of assault and found the defendant feigning sleep in a bedroom. When deputies tried to take Ultican into custody, he struck a deputy in the face, inflicting demonstrable bodily harm.

“Any time we receive a call where weapons are involved and shots are fired, that’s a dangerous situation for our officers to respond to,” said Carlton County Sheriff Kelly Lake, adding that the deputy is fine.

Bail was set at $2,500 for Ultican on Jan. 15 in Carlton County Court, when a no contact order was also issued. He made an initial appearance in court Wednesday and Judge Robert Macaulay set an omnibus hearing in the case for March 11.

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