Oakland person sentenced to 20 months for ‘possessing’ bullet that he unintentionally shot into his own groin

OAKLAND — An Oakland person has been sentenced to 20 months in federal prison for possessing ammunition with which he unintentionally shot himself in the groin area, courtroom records show.

Nicolas West, 23, pleaded guilty final June to becoming a felon in possession of ammunition in link with the July 7, 2021 capturing. Video clip footage confirmed him firing various pictures at an assailant who opened fireplace outside a liquor retailer near the intersection of 77th and Bancroft Avenues, prosecutors say. The sentence was handed down late previous month.

Federal prosecutors argued for a three-year prison time period, crafting in a sentencing temporary that West “recklessly fired a number of rounds of ammunition throughout a roadway without regard for passersby.”

West’s lawyer, assistant federal public defender Joyce Leavitt, wrote that West experienced developed up all over gun violence and was “deeply traumatized” as a little one. She explained he recognizes the seriousness of the criminal offense but that he was a victim far too. She wrote that in light-weight of the incident he has “reassessed his everyday living options.”

“It are not able to be stated more than enough that Mr. West is a sufferer in this situation. An assailant drove by and shot at Mr. West and many others, killing a further man or woman,” Leavitt wrote. She later on extra, “Mr. West acknowledges that he should really not have fired a gun…But Mr. West’s attempt to defend himself is easy to understand even if it is not satisfactory.”

Police say there ended up at least 3 shooters, and that 49-calendar year-aged Johnny Armstrong was shot and killed during the gun struggle. It is unclear regardless of whether he was a bystander or the shooter’s supposed target. Thus much, no just one has been billed with killing Armstrong.

West was identified following he confirmed up to Highland Clinic for the gunshot wound, in the identical outfit he was seen sporting on the liquor store’s surveillance online video. He was not permitted to have guns or ammunition because of to a 2017 gun possession conviction, according to the complaint.