Barnstead man who fired shots at family in July sentenced

LACONIA — A Barnstead man will serve 2 ½ to 7 years in the New Hampshire State Prison for firing a hunting rifle in the direction of a family member and her three children and for threatening them in the same manner.

Paul Tasker Jr. also pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of being a felon in possession of a deadly weapon because he was convicted of a similar crime, also in Barnstead, in 2009.

Though eligible for parole in 2 ½ years, should he not be of good behavior after his release, Tasker could not only be returned to state prison to complete his sentence, he could spend an additional 14 years there.

Tasker and his girlfriend had been camping in the woods behind his family's property on Province Road on July 5 when he allegedly came out of the woods with a rifle, loaded a bullet into it, and threatening to "take all of them out" while they were barbecuing on back deck.

They ran toward the neighbors house and Tasker fired a shot in their direction.

Tasker remained loose for two days while police from Belknap and Merrimack Counties searched for him in and around the Barnstead and Pittsfield area.

Police learned that he was staying in the woods behind his home and with some sense of where in the woods he was, they amassed a SWAT team, surrounded the area and began looking for him.

When police found his girlfriend and her two children at the campsite, they learned he had left.

Tasker was apprehended with the assistance of a State Police K-9 shortly thereafter.

The court also found Tasker chargeable for multiple probation violations from his conviction for criminal threatening with a deadly weapon in 2009. In that case, he went to J.J. Goodwins in Barnstead with a gun and threatened to "take everyone out."

Tasker's probation violation records showed he failed to report to them in 2010, failed to comply with court orders that he participate in an anger management program and tour the State Prison and that he had admitted to and tested positive for cocaine and oxycodone in 2010.

Before his incident in July 2016, Tasker was wanted on outstanding warrants and had been the subject of a search by the Joint Belknap County and U.S. Federal Marshal's Task Force.