Fort Worth City Hall Gunman Gets 60 Years

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) _ A man was sentenced Thursday to 60 years in prison for firing a gun at an official inside the Fort Worth City Hall nearly four years ago.

Ray Redding was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports jurors rejected Redding’s insanity defense. The state’s definition is that a severe mental illness prevents someone who is committing a crime from knowing that it is wrong.

Redding, 46, previously was found incompetent to stand trial and had been sent to a state mental hospital three times since his 2005 arrest.

Redding had been a familiar sight at City Hall, complaining to officials about land that he believed the city had taken from him.

On Aug. 10, 2005, Redding went into the downtown building and fired a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun at then-Development Director Bob Riley. The bullet missed and lodged in a wall.

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