A man was charged Tuesday with firing his gun in his St. Paul apartment building, sending bullets or fragments into three units.

Jason S. Carter, 42, also shot at a woman who opened her door to see what was happening and a bullet narrowly missed striking a man in another apartment, according to the criminal complaint.

Police responded to shots fired inside Dunedin Hi-Rise, a public housing apartment building on the West Side, about 7:45 p.m. Sunday. In the Ada Street building, a couple of blocks from Cesar Chavez Street, officers saw bullet holes in several walls on the ninth floor.

Jason S. Carter (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

There were spent shell casings outside a door and officers knocked. A man responded but initially resisted exiting, said the complaint, which described Carter as appearing to be intoxicated. Police entered his apartment to search for possible victims, and found shell casings and outgoing bullet holes on multiple walls. They checked with other residents on the floor.

A 29-year-old woman said she heard popping noises, opened her door and saw a man holding a handgun. He pointed it toward her and fired. She recognized him as a man who lived down the hall.

Another resident, a 59-year-old, heard four gunshots and one went through his kitchen wall, “nearly striking him, before hitting the other side of the unit,” the complaint said. “He said that he was extremely frightened.”

‘Just trying to clean up’

A 45-year-old said he heard bangs from the hallway and saw a man holding a handgun. He retreated to his apartment, but heard the gunman walking toward it and shooting three more times.

He also heard the man say he was “just trying to clean up the (expletive) around here,” the complaint said.

At least one of the bullets appeared to have entered the man’s kitchen cabinet.

Two bullet holes from Carter’s apartment led toward the unit of a 72-year-old man and police found a bullet fragment inside.

Bullet holes every direction

Police obtained a search warrant for Carter’s apartment and discovered a handgun and multiple bullet holes inside his apartment “in every compass direction,” the complaint said. There were about 30 shell casings and more than 20 bullet fragments throughout his apartment.

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Carter told police he spent the day drinking and watching TV with a friend on another floor of the building. He said he returned to his apartment and went to sleep. He said “he awakened to being struck in the head by something,” according to the complaint. “He said that he did not see anyone around but still fired shots in response to being struck.”

He told police he had a permit to purchase the gun, which was confirmed.

The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office charged Carter with two counts each of second-degree assault and intentional discharge of a firearm that endangers safety, along with one count of reckless discharge of a firearm within a public housing zone.

An attorney for Carter declined comment Tuesday.