Homeless Felon Accused Of Pointing Gun At Child In Concord

CONCORD, NH — A homeless felon living in a camper in the city was arrested on a felon in possession of a firearm charge on Tuesday on the grounds of the Steeplegate Mall.

Around 3:30 p.m., police went to speak with Jamie Lee Potter, 38, a homeless man now located in Concord, previously from Pierceton, Indiana, about a gun threat investigation. The child reported to an educator at the Broken Ground Elementary School at South Curtisville Road and school officials called police.

After investigating the incident, which occurred in a different location than the school, police accused him of pointing a firearm at a child’s head, according to an affidavit.

A search warrant of his camper, parked at the Steeplegate Mall near the Zoo Health Club, was requested, with police believing there were multiple firearms inside. Two officers and a detective put him and the camper under surveillance and wanted to secure the camper pending the warrant application approval, the report said.

While there, the reporting officer saw Potter and a male teenager walking around the parking lot and decided to contact him with another officer, the affidavit said.

“Upon seeing us,” the officer wrote, “Potter immediately turned his body and faced his back to (another) officer and I. While doing this, I observed Potter attempting to pull something out of his waistband.”

The officer deployed his gun and ordered Potter to show his hands, but he was accused of ignoring the commands and “pulled an item from his waistband, and handed it to the second male who was standing directly next to him.” The report said the officer then pointed his firearm at the teen and ordered him to show his hands. The teen raised his hands and the officer saw a firearm in his left hand, an affidavit said.

The officer wrote the teen was asked to place the gun on the ground, and walk away from it, and he did. Potter was then handcuffed and arrested while the firearm was secured. He was charged with felon in possession of a weapon, a felony.

The affidavit said Potter is a felon due to a burglary conviction in Elkhart County, Indiana, in May 2004, with a sentence of 18 months, all suspended.

Potter was arraigned in Merrimack County Superior Court on Wednesday and held on preventative detention. He has a dispositional conference hearing booked for Dec. 14. The threat incident is still under investigation.

Editor's note: This report corrects the location of where the threat incident took place.

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