Ryan Ashley of Gilmanton – accused of shooting two people outside a Citizens Bank in Pittsfield this weekend – was held without bail after an outburst in court on Monday.

State Police say Ashley shot two people, Jesse Bartlett and Phillip Mullen, in the bank parking lot after he became agitated by a failed attempt to withdraw cash. One of the bullets blew through the wall of a nearby residence and burst a can of spray paint.

Ashley, 31, was arraigned in Concord District Court on Monday and was held in preventative detention. He is charged with one felony count of first-degree assault and two felony counts of reckless conduct with a deadly weapon.

Norman Miner was at the bank with coworkers when Ashley’s transaction was declined. Ashley became “irate, shouting at the teller and slamming the card on the countertop,” according to an arrest affidavit from State Police. Ashley then “yelled something to the effect of ‘this card better be fixed when I come back,’ and stormed toward the exit,” the affidavit said. 

Police said Ashley drove away from the bank and returned a few minutes later when witnesses reported hearing between three and five gunshots. 

Mullen, 31, and Bartlett, 41, were in the Citizen’s Bank parking lot when Ashley returned. 

Mullen told investigators he had previously worked with Ashley and recognized him as he backed into a parking space, held a gun outside his driver’s side window and fired four times.

One of the bullets hit Bartlett on his left hip and another ricocheted off a company van, causing some bruising and swelling on the back of Mullen’s head, police said. 

Nanette Adamson told investigators “at least one” shot came through the wall of a residence she owns on Park Street, striking and bursting a can of spray paint. 

Pittsfield Police Officer Don Bolduc — a retired army brigadier general and the 2022 Republican nominee for U.S. Senate — arrived at the bank at 11:48 a.m., two minutes after the emergency call was made.

Bolduc found Bartlett on the ground in the parking lot, alert and conscious with a single gunshot wound on his left side that was not actively bleeding. Bartlett was transported to Concord Hospital and later underwent surgery. Mullen was also transported by EMS to Concord Hospital where his injuries were found to be superficial. Bolduc reported he found four bullet casings at the scene. 

Around 2:25 p.m., New Hampshire State Police Troopers in Barnstead were approached by Ashley, who said he was turning himself in for questioning. 

Appearing at his arraignment Monday morning remotely from Merrimack County jail, Ashley interrupted the prosecutor and yelled over the judge’s order that he stop speaking before he was muted by the court.  

Ashley’s attorney Sandra Bloomenthal told Judge Dorothy Walch that she had represented him multiple times previously and that his “behavior has been escalating.” She recounted a previous incident where her client, appearing in court on a child custody matter, walked out of a hearing.

Though his counsel did not object to the state’s request that Ashley be placed under preventative detention, she requested that he receive “some degree of mental health care.” 

A hearing has been set for Feb. 9.