February 5, 2024 – On February 2, 2024, a jury in the Middle District of Tennessee found Jamal Gardner guilty of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, announced United States Attorney Henry C. Leventis.
According to evidence presented at trial, on February 2, 2019, Gardner beat and tried to strangle the mother of his children. A little over an hour later, a Columbia Police officer initiated a traffic stop of a vehicle for reckless driving. As the officer approached the vehicle, the driver got out holding an AR-15 rifle and immediately began firing at the officer. As the officer took cover and returned fire, the driver, later identified as Jamal Gardner, fled into a nearby residence and continued firing at responding officers. Over the next two hours, Gardner fired approximately 80 rounds from at least four firearms, before escaping from the house. Gardner fled the scene and was arrested a few days later in Michigan.
“This prosecution underscores the Justice Department’s commitment to hold violent criminals accountable, especially those that are brazen enough to attack law enforcement as the defendant did in this case,” said United States Attorney Henry C. Leventis.
Gardner will be sentenced a later date by United States District Court Judge William L. Campbell, Jr. If the court finds that Gardner qualifies as an Armed Career Criminal, he will be sentenced to a mandatory minimum of fifteen years to life in federal prison.
Additional charges relating to Gardner’s attempted murder of multiple Columbia Police Department officers and his aggravated assault on his former domestic partner are pending in state court. He remains presumed innocent of those state charges.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, the Columbia Police Department, and the 22nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Josh Kurtzman and Phil Wehby prosecuted the case.
