Crime & Safety
Man Sentenced For 2019 Shootout Near Northport City Hall
A man is going to prison after firing more than 30 shots during a shootout directly across from Northport City Hall.
TUSCALOOSA, AL — Tuscaloosa County Circuit Judge Daniel F. Pruet on Tuesday sentenced Mikheal Christopher Gilliam to five concurrent 20-year terms in prison and denied him probation after pleading guilty on multiple charges of attempted murder and shooting into an occupied vehicle.
The charges date back to when Gilliam was accused instigating a shootout on June 14, 2019, at the corner of McFarland Boulevard and Highway 43 where more than 30 rounds were fired near Northport City Hall
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Northport Police officers first responded to the strip mall at 3617 McFarland Boulevard after two men were first reported to be shooting at each other near the busy intersection on a Friday afternoon at approximately 4 p.m.
As our news partners at WVUA 23 previously reported, witnesses told police that one vehicle had pulled in behind another in the parking lot, and the two drivers were talking to each other before they both started shooting.
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At the time of the exchange, three people were in the vehicle Gilliam was accused of shooting into — two adults and a 15-year-old juvenile.
Fortunately, there were no injuries reported in the shooting.
Gilliam was 22 years old when he was identified as a suspect and charged with three counts of attempted murder and two counts of shooting into an occupied vehicle.
Prosecutors with the Tuscaloosa County District Attorney's Office requested three concurrent 30-year sentences for the attempted murder charges and two 20-year sentences for the Class B felonies, also to have been served concurrently.
Instead, Gilliam entered an open plea to the charges and received the five 20-year terms to run concurrently, along with being denied probation.
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