Credit: Middletown police
A man who fired nearly 20 shots in a Middletown Township apartment complex is headed to prison.
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Eric J. Dawson, 34, of Trenton, was sentenced Thursday by Bucks County Judge Raymond McHugh to 7 1/2 to 15 years in a state correctional institution for a July 2020 incident where he fire 18 shots toward a man, the man’s girlfriend, and her child in the busy Foxwood Manor Apartments in the 2100 block of Veterans Highway in Middletown Township’s Levittown section, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.
Last November, Dawson pleaded guilty to charges, including aggravated assault, prohibited possession of a firearm and discharging a firearm into an occupied structure.
At Thursday’s sentencing, Deputy District Attorney Jovin Jose read a victim impact statement into the record from the woman who was shot at.
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“This is the most horrific thing our son has ever had to experience, being told to get down on the floor only to see bullets entering at floor level then needing to re-seek shelter in the bathtub of his lifelong residence while his home was under fire is more than enough trauma to last a lifetime,” the woman wrote to the court.
Shots rang out at the Foxwood Manor Apartments at 10:21 p.m. on July 22, 2020.
Credit: Erich Martin/LevittownNow.com
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Below is how the district attorney’s office explained the incident:
“An investigation by Middletown Township Police and Bucks County detectives determined that a man who lives in one of the apartments confronted Dawson, who he knew as “Trenton,” after seeing him trying to enter his car, which was parked in the apartment’s parking lot.
“Dawson lifted his shirt to reveal a handgun and threatened to shoot the man. The man told Dawson to put the gun away and fist fight him, but Dawson walked away, and the man went back to his apartment.
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“A short time later, Dawson returned and yelled for the man to come out and fight him. As they began to fight, Dawson swung at him and missed and then went to a nearby car and got his handgun. The man ran back to his apartment and Dawson started firing, hitting four occupied apartments.”
No one was injured in the shooting, but several apartments were struck and damaged.
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Right after shots were fired, Dawson fled the area and was found after a months-long search that ended with his arrest in North Carolina.
According to court papers, Dawson has prior felony convictions on gun and drug charges in New Jersey, and he was barred from possessing a firearm at the time of the shooting.
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