SANDPOINT — A young North Idaho man is facing felony charges for allegedly opening fire on an occupied vehicle during an altercation at an underage drinking spot on Monday night.

Terry Gerold Ronald Jones is charged with three counts of battery with the intent of committing a serious felony.

Jones, 19, made an initial appearance in Bonner County Magistrate Court on Tuesday via video link with the county jail. Information on bail and legal counsel was not immediately available, however.

Another 19-year-old told Bonner County Sheriff’s investigators the vehicle he was in was fired upon as they departed a gravel pit in the 2200 block of Old House Road north of Athol. There were up to five bullet strikes on the Toyota Camry he was a passenger in, with one shot entering the passenger compartment and nearly hitting an occupant in the vehicle, according to a sheriff detective’s affidavit.

The four occupants of the car said they arrived at a spot known locally as Perimeter and were confronted by people who were already there. The male occupant of the vehicle was in an ongoing dispute with Jones, court documents allege. The group in the Toyota said they opted to leave amid threats of violence from the group that was already at the bonfire. The driver of the car said she was hit in the face with a rock that was thrown threw her window, followed by gunfire. The driver ended up crashing into a tree while trying to flee the gunshots, court records indicate.

Jones told investigators that he blacked out after firing a warning shot, which he alternately described firing into the air and into the ground, the detective’s affidavit said.

Jones, who was armed with a 9-millimeter Glock semiautomatic pistol, said he believed one of his friends was going to hit by the departing Camry, which witnesses said struck a parked vehicle. The occupants of the Camry denied hitting another vehicle, although a Ford Focus was found to have fresh damage to a rear quarter panel, the affidavit said.

Battery with intent to commit a serious felony is punishable by up to 20 years in prison upon conviction. A preliminary hearing in the case is set for Aug. 5.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.