Man accused of firing gunshot in Belmont will go to trial in April

Cody M. Yale, 27, no fixed address, has been charged with felony reckless conduct with a deadly weapon for allegedly shooting a handgun in the parking lot of JOANN Fabrics at Belknap Marketplace in Belmont on Friday afternoon.

Yale was arraigned Monday in Belknap County Superior Court by Judge Christopher M. Keating. According to the police affidavit, Yale is also charged with being a felon in possession of a dangerous weapon and falsifying physical evidence, as well as breach of bail conditions and criminal threatening.

Yale is being held in Belknap County Jail awaiting trial, according to jail records. His public defender, Taylor Gailliot, was unable to be reached immediately for comment.

Yale was found and arrested with his stepfather Friday in the woods between the WOW Trail and Lake Winnisquam near the creek, according to the affidavit. Laconia Police Chief Matt Canfield, who was assisting Belmont police in locating the suspect, called on the radio that he noticed a subject in the woods he believed to be Yale. New Hampshire State Police, Belknap County Sheriff's Department and Laconia police responded to the scene of the gunfire. 

“This person fired at least one round in the parking lot, which is a populated area during the daytime and in a place of business," Canfield said in an interview. "So, certainly, the individual we were dealing with would be considered high risk.

“This is rural New Hampshire, and the amount of resources to deal with an armed individual who has fled the location of which his whereabouts are unknown, certainly takes a lot of resources to locate that individual,” he said.

According to the affidavit, the incident started after Yale's stepfather received a call from his wife that Yale threatened a family friend, saying, “he was going to ‘shoot up’" their home after trying to retrieve property from that residence.

The family friend agreed to meet with Yale at his request in the parking lot of JOANN Fabrics. When the friend arrived, Yale was inside the store, then exited, walking toward the vehicle. The friend remained in the vehicle while Yale's stepfather got out to give the items to Yale. According to the affidavit, it was then Yale took a silver and tan 9mm pistol from his waistband, pointed the gun at the truck and pulled the trigger several times. The gun failed to go off and had to be manually cycled before firing a round, according to the court document. After the gunshot, the friend left the parking lot while Yale was still pointing the gun at the truck.

After taking Yale into custody, police found his pistol buried in the snow after searching near the town beach, where Yale had been detained, where they also recovered an empty holster, according to the affidavit.

Laconia Police Sgt. Benjamin Black found two 9mm rounds in the front left pocket of Yale’s pants, the court record states. Those rounds were used to match a spent bullet casing found in the JOANN parking lot by Deputy Nathan Moss of Belknap County Sheriff’s Department, with the assistance of a K9 team and a metal detector. The rounds were later identified as 9mm Luger Tulammo.

Yale was previously convicted for first-degree assault with a deadly weapon in 2021 in the Belknap County Superior Court. Following that felony conviction, Yale was prohibited from owning or possessing firearms or deadly weapons. He had been out on bail pending several charges, including possession of a controlled drug, filed by Belmont police in December.

Yale’s trial is scheduled for Tuesday, April 23, at 1 p.m.