The gunman who shot and wounded a rookie New York Police Department (NYPD) officer in 2023 was castigated by a judge and given a multi-decade prison sentence on Monday.
Devin Spraggins, 24, was convicted of attempted murder after opening fire at an officer on a city bus in April 2023. Spraggins was fighting with a bus passenger when he wounded Officer Brett Boller, who entered the bus to respond to the altercation.
Spraggins was sentenced to 39 years to life in prison on Monday. While handing down the sentence, Judge Kenneth Holder censured Spraggins while the gunman stayed silent, according to the New York Post.
"For me, the defining moment in this case was not that you shot Police Officer Boller in the leg," Holder said, according to the Post. "It’s that you, not knowing the magazine had fallen out of the gun and while watching Police Officer Boller on the ground screaming in pain, you pointed your gun at him and you pulled the trigger."
“And here’s the irony,” the judge added. “That day and any other day, Police Officer Boller and Police Officer [Anthony] Rock would have risked their lives to save any of your four sisters, your brother, even you. But you tried to kill him. You didn’t give a damn about his life.”
