Trotwood man sentenced to 14 years after police standoff
Defense attorney says his client was under ‘lot of stress.’
The Trotwood man accused of shooting at police during a 2½-hour standoff last October was sentenced Thursday to 14 years in prison.
William D. Gibson, 43, will serve the mandatory 14 years as stipulated in a plea agreement that Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Dennis Adkins saw no reason to alter.
Three of the years were for a firearm specification and the other 11 years on each concurrent count were for felonious assault on a peace officer. Gibson nor his attorney said anything prior to sentencing and none of his supporters from earlier hearings were in attendance.
There was no victim impact statement from Trotwood police.
“Thankfully, none of the officers were injured during this intense situation,” Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said via a press release. “Considering the number of firearms the defendant had, and the number of shots he fired, it could easily have turned deadly.”
Gibson, who earned 140 days jail-time credit, must pay court costs and will be on five years’ post-release control after he is out of prison.
Adkins also ruled that the weapons seized be disposed of by Trotwood police.
Gibson pleaded guilty Wednesday to seven counts in exchange for the dismissal of several other counts related to the Oct. 13 incident that started when Gibson called 911 and said his wife accidentally shot herself.
After the 11:30 a.m. call that day, police arrived and started treating his wife outside the residence. Police said Gibson told them they had one minute to leave or he would start shooting.
Gibson fired a shot inside the residence at 4645 Wolf Creek Pike, according to Trotwood police Chief Eric Wil- son, who said his officers then felt they were being targeted in what officials said was an active shooter situation.
“Given the severity of the situation, he was facing a lot of years, a lot more years given the number of officers that were identified in the indictment,” defense attorney Michael Pentecost said Wednesday. “We felt this was the best outcome for him to minimize his exposure to a long prison term.”
Pentecost estimated his client could have been sentenced to a maximum of more than 80 years. In December, Gibson was found competent to stand trial and that he was not insane at the time of the incident.
“I think everyone recognizes that no one actually got hurt, fortunately,” Pentecost said. “And he wanted to make sure everyone understand that he wasn’t trying to actually hurt anybody. He was trying to get people to back away. He was under a lot of stress in his personal life at the time. His son (has now) died of cancer.”