Jeffrey Zeigler, the white former Detroit firefighter who fired a shotgun at a lost black teenager, was sentenced to 4 to 10 years of prison on Tuesday morning.
In April, a black 14-year-old Rochester Hills student knocked on the door of Zeigler’s Rochester Hills home after missing his school bus. Zeigler responded with a shotgun blast.
The 53-year-old initially told officials he woke up to his wife screaming about someone trying to break into their home and said he slipped and the gun accidentally discharged. However, Zeigler’s own home surveillance video showed a different story: the teen, wearing a backpack, is shown knocking on the door and patiently waiting for a response. He then bolts after Zeigler appears with a gun in his hands, who appears in the footage deliberately aiming and firing at the unarmed boy as he runs away.
Fortunately, the teen was not shot. But last month, a jury convicted Zeigler of assault with intent to do great bodily harm and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
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This article appears in Nov 7-13, 2018.
