Neighbors lived in 'constant fear' of Missouri 'doomsday prepper' with gun stockpile: police

Police arrested a Missouri “doomsday prepper” who investigators said had been terrorizing his neighborhood for weeks.

Neighbors began complaining in May about 36-year-old Roy McCool after he allegedly assaulted a woman in Springfield home, reported the Springfield News-Leader.

Investigators said McCool forced his way into the woman’s home and punched, slapped, and choked her before firing three rounds from a handgun into her living room wall.

McCool broke into the woman’s home two days later and stole a bank card and $35 in cash from her children’s piggy banks, police said.

Neighbors said McCool’s behavior grew even more threatening about two weeks later, in late May, when he stood in his front yard with a gun and yelled threats toward other residents.

McCool continued getting into confrontations with neighbors, letting his dogs run loose, and displaying firearms, police said, causing other residents to live “in a constant state of fear.”

Police said McCool was also accused of hitting a neighbor in the face with a wooden stake sometime last month.

Officers grew even more concerned when someone close to McCool described him as a “prepper,” or someone who stockpiles weapons or other provisions to prepare for war or some other disaster they believe is imminent.

The witness told police that McCool had “fortified” his home and amassed a cache of weapons, and a judge authorized a warrant to search his home.

Officers said they found 10 guns – including an AR-15 rifle, at least three other rifles, four handguns, and a shotgun – and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

Police also found bags containing thousands of coins worth more than $1,300 at the house.

McCool was arrested June 18 on six felony charges – three counts of burglary, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon and one count of domestic assault – and remains held on $75,000 bond.