Jupiter shooting victim held on federal gun, drug charges

A man wounded in the Jupiter shootings that left three dead appeared in federal court Friday on unrelated weapons charges.

Charles Vorpagel is being held without bond on charges of a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and intent to sell, and possession of a firearm and furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Late Sunday night, police found Brandi El-Salhy, 24, Sean Henry, 25, and Kelli Doherty, 20, shot to death at the home. Vorpagel, who rents the home from his father, survived but escaped the shooting scene.

According to Jupiter Police, the FBI arrested the 27-year-old after his release from the hospital. His arrest stemmed from a search warrant of the home on Mohawk Street where the killings took place.

The criminal complaint filed in United States District Court said authorities removed a number of weapons and drugs from the home.

Those include a loaded Kel-Tec firearm, a 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun loaded with rubber bullets, an assault rifle, a .25-caliber Raven Arms and a . .357 Magnum Colt Trooper MK II, as well as hundreds of rounds of 16 types of ammunition. There also were high-capacity magazines, packaged marijuana, cocaine, and medical edible narcotics.

Vorpagel spoke to investigators on Monday, the day after the killings and admitted to selling drugs out of the home, according to the criminal complaint.

He told investigators he sold two boxes of AK ammunition to a customer and planned to sell two of his weapons to the same customer. He also said he bought firearms from gun shows and sold them to friends, the complaint said.

A fifth person in Sunday’s case, yet to be officially identified, remains hospitalized and unable to speak with investigators, according to Jupiter Police Chief Frank Kitzerow.

Investigators have not released a motive in the killings but continue to say the shootings were not a random act of violence and the community is not in any danger.