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Man sentenced to 23 years for shooting Richmond Police Officer

Posted at 5:42 PM, Apr 11, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-11 23:31:10-04

RICHMOND, Va. -- The man who pled guilty to shooting a Richmond Police officer in 2015 was sentenced to 23 years in prison inside a Richmond courtroom Monday.

Tamar X. Harris was sentenced to 35 years in prison with 12 years suspended after shooting Richmond Police Officer William Turner in the stomach, face, and hip on January 2, 2015. Officer Turner was released from the hospital two weeks after he was shot.

He faced up to 30 years and prison after being charged with aggravated malicious wounding.

Tamar X. Harris (PHOTO: Richmond Police)

Tamar X. Harris (PHOTO: Richmond Police)

Harris addressed the court Monday and apologized to Officer Turner's family, his family and admitted he suffers from a mental illness.

Officer Turner testified during Harris’s sentencing hearing saying he lost consciousness for the week after the attack and he had to learn to walk again when he recovered.

CBS 6 spoke to him outside the courtroom, where he said he has forgiven Harris.

"You can't help but feel for the family, although it was an attack against me. A family still loves their child. I don't hold any hatred. I accept his apology," he said.

The Shooting 

Richmond Police Officer William Turner was shot in the stomach and hip after he responded to a report of a man suffering from emotional issues in Richmond’s Fulton neighborhood. Another bullet grazed Turner’s head.

“All of a sudden I heard pop, pop, pop,” Willard Roland Jr., a neighbor who witnessed the shooting, told CBS 6 News. “He staggered to the middle of the street and I knew he had been shot, so I called 911."

Harris also suffered multiple gunshot wounds during the shooting with the officer.

A man at Harris’ home, who identified himself as Harris’s uncle, said the suspect suffered a brain injury after shooting himself a few years ago. He also said his nephew never recovered after his mother died unexpectedly two years ago and that Harris blamed himself for his mother's death.

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