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Jeremiah Peter Watson, 24, of Hanover, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release after pleading guilty to assault of a federal officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon, and using, carrying, or brandishing a firearm in relation to a violent crime.
On Feb. 25, 2021, Watson drove to the entrance of a Secret Service facility in the area, positioning his vehicle in a way that blocked the driveway and prevented other drivers from passing through the entrance of the facility, according to his guilty plea.
When a security officer approached Watson to ask him to move his vehicle, Watson became "verbally combative" and refused to move.
A second security officer then approached Watson and asked him to move his vehicle and informed him that if he did not move his vehicle, a Secret Service agent would arrest him, prosecutors said.
Watson continued to be combative towards the security, they noted, and during the confrontation, Watson approached one guard “aggressively" and lunged at the other “putting his face within inches of the (guard’s) face.”
According to the guilty plea, when Watson lunged at the second guard, he reached into his pocket, leading the agents to believe that he was armed. In response, one guard pulled out his gun, and the other pepper-sprayed Watson, who retreated and drove away in his vehicle.
As the two guards and two other Secret Service agents were returning to the building, prosecutors said that the victims saw Watson’s vehicle return and saw a flash of a gunshot coming out of the driver-side window towards them.
Watson did another U-turn and fired at least four additional shots before he drove away, officials said.
As stated in his guilty plea, US Park Police officers responded to the scene where investigators recovered three 9mm ammunition shell casings and located a bullet fragment within a wall.
Through the review of information associated with Watson’s license plate registration, law enforcement investigators linked the vehicle to Watson’s Hanover address and identified the vehicle at Watson’s residence later that night.
On Feb. 26, 2021, investigators executed search warrants at Watson's Hanover residence, prosecutors said, where they recovered his cell phone, 9mm ammunition, two empty 9mm cartridge cases, and a privately made 9mm handgun without a serial number.
Further investigation found that the cartridge cases recovered from Watson’s vehicle had been fired from the recovered ghost gun and that the bullet fragment recovered from the scene was consistent with having been fired from the same ghost gun.
Federal prosecutors made note that “all four victims were acting in the course of their duties as federal officers or employees when Watson discharged his firearm at them.”
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