D.C. Cop Gets Suspended Sentence in Shooting Incident

A Washington, D.C., police officer has received a suspended sentence for firing his service weapon, while off duty, at a car full of people, including two transgender women.

Kenneth Furr was sentenced Thursday by a D.C. Superior Court judge after having been convicted by a jury in October of one count of assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of sexual solicitation for prostitution, Metro Weekly reports. Furr was acquitted of seven other counts, including assault with intent to kill while armed, stemming from the altercation, which occurred August 26, 2011.

Prosecutors had argued for the maximum sentence for Furr, which would have been 60 months in prison on the assault conviction and 30 days for the solicitation conviction. Judge Russell Canan gave him the 60-month sentence but suspended 46 months of it and gave Furr credit for time served, the 14 months he spent in jail between his arrest and conviction. Canan also sentenced him to three years' probation and 100 hours of community service, and imposed a $150 fine.

Even while giving Furr the suspended sentence, Canan lectured him on the seriousness of his crime, Metro Weekly notes: "Canan chastised Furr directly, telling him he was fortunate none of the victims died and that he had started the incident by brandishing his weapon."