Bates County Sheriff’s Office Press Release

In the early hours of March 26, 2014, Deputies were dispatched to Rt. 4, Butler, Missouri on a report of shots fired into a residence.  Deputies arrived and met with the victim who stated that someone had just shot into the house.  The house was occupied by several adults and two children, one of which was two years old.  Deputies located two holes in the side of the residence and one bullet lodged in a fence post.  Additional Deputies and Detectives were called out to assist in identifying and searching for the suspects.  Detectives processed the crime scene and were able to recover the bullet fragments from the residence.  Shell casings were also found at the scene and recovered.  Two suspects were identified as, Rhyan A Shaffer, 6/7/71 and Tony Dale Shaffer, 6/6/81 both of Butler Missouri.

Deputies contacted Butler Police Officers for assistance in locating the two suspects of the shooting.  During initial contact with the two suspects, Butler Police located a 9mm casing that matched the casings that were found at the scene.  Both suspects were taken into custody within one hour of the shooting.

A search warrant was issued to search the residence of the two suspects located at 801 S. Birch, Butler, Missouri.

During the execution of the search warrant, Deputies found three long guns and one 9 mm pistol.  The pistol appeared to have the serial numbers altered.

At approximately 11:00 am Deputies converged on a residence located at 301 S High, Butler Missouri.  During the investigation a third suspect was identified as the possible driver of the vehicle involved in the shooting.  The driver identified as, Jaren O Melton, 12/26/90, was taken into custody without incident.

The Sheriff’s Office has responded to the area of the incident multiple times for a family dispute involving the two Shaffer suspects.  Rhyan A Shaffer has previous arrests and charges pending in court for numerous violent weapons charges.

Rhyan A Shaffer is currently being held in the Bates County Sheriff’s Office on a warrant for assault in the first degree, armed criminal action, and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm.  Bond set at $135,000 Cash or Surety.



Tony D Shaffer is currently being held in the Bates County Sheriff’s Office on a warrant for assault in the first degree and armed criminal action; bond set $100,000 Cash or Surety.



Jaren O Melton is currently being held in the Bates County Sheriff’s Office on a warrant for assault in the first degree and armed criminal action; bond set $100,000 Cash or Surety.



The Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Butler Police Department.