Man Who Shot Gun Inside Mansfield Apartment Gets Jail Time

MANSFIELD, MA — A former Mansfield man admitted Wednesday in Attleboro District Court that he accidentally fired a gun into a bedroom where a teenage girl was lying in bed.

Timothy Downs, 30, now of Uxbridge, was sentenced to a 2 1/2-year jail term, with only a year to serve and the remaining 18 months suspended with two yeas of probation, according to the Sun Chronicle. Downs must also stay away from the victim and her family.

Just past 9 p.m. on Oct. 16, 2017, police responded to a report of a shot fired inside an apartment and learned that a bullet entered the caller's 15-year-old child's bedroom. The bullet nearly hit the child, striking the bureau near the bed instead. Police determined that the bullet came from a downstairs apartment.

A short time later, Downs was arrested and arraigned the next day on multiple weapons and drug charges. Police say he fired a 9 mm rifle while sitting in his living room.

The victim's family said they were satisfied with the sentence.

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