Officers almost struck by gunfire after shots-fired call in Raymond

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, September 9, 2025

A tense situation unfolded in Raymond at 12:05 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 7 after officers responded to the report of multiple gunshots in Fowler and Ballentine streets.

Two officers quickly converged on the area and heard first-hand additional gunshots while approaching a witness’s home.

The shots were reportedly coming from a neighbor’s home and the officers.

“As [South Bend Police Department] Officer [Jordan] Dockter and I approached the stairs leading up to the [witnesses’ home] I heard 3 or 4 loud bangs very close to me, which I immediately recognized as shots from a handgun,” Raymond Police Department Officer Ivy Stafford stated in court documents.

Additional Raymond and South Bend units, along with the Pacific County Sheriff’s Office and Shoalwater Bay Police Department (SWBPD), and off-duty officers rushed to the scene to backup Stafford and Dockter.

An officer from the SWBPD called a friend who lived in the area who informed him that Jason B. Chandler, 56, lived at the residence where the shots were coming from. Officers were able to obtain a phone number for Chandler and called him.

“I advised Chandler of the call I had received,” Stafford stated in court documents. “Chandler advised the noise had come from his house but it was fireworks and not a gun. I advised Chandler the sound I heard was not consistent with fireworks. I asked Chandler if he would step out of his house. Chandler said he would, I asked Chandler to keep his empty hand up as he left his house. Chandler then said he opened his front door and didn’t see me. I advised Chandler I was further down the road and advised him to make his way to the street. Chandler stated he was not going anywhere until he could see me,” Stafford added.

Stafford was subsequently able to coax Chandler to give himself up without further incident.

According to court documents, officers spoke with a nearby neighbor who reported they called Chandler after hearing gunshots.

“[The neighbor] stated after he heard the first round of shots, he called Chandler on his house phone,” Stafford stated in court documents. “[He] asked Chandler what that loud noise was. Chandler advised [him] he had been feeling depressed lately and he just ‘Shot off a couple rounds to let off steam.’”

“I asked [him] if Chandler had done anything like this in the past. [He] said ‘Yes,’ Chandler had shot off a single round about a month ago in his basement. I asked [him] if he knew Chandler to have firearms. [He] said yes, Chandler had a 9-millimeter pistol that was silver or had silver on it.”

Officers located bullet jackets on the exterior of a house across from Chandler and after acquiring a search warrant found spent casings, a Kimber 9mm pistol, a .22 revolver, and a black BB gun inside his residence.

Chandler faces first-degree assault with a deadly weapon, reckless endangerment, and discharging a firearm.

RPD Chief Pat Matlock stated during a media briefing that at least one bullet came “close to hitting Ivy and Jordan.”