LYNCHBURG, Va. – A man has been sentenced to serve nine years in connection to a shooting that happened in Lynchburg in 2019, according to the Lynchburg Commonwealth’s Attorney.
Leon Rose was convicted of malicious wounding, use of a firearm during the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a violent felon on April 27, 2021. He was charged after authorities said he shot a man in the leg on April 13, 2019.
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According to the Commonwealth’s Attorney, the victim and a friend were at a party at Rose’s home on Norwood Street in Lynchburg on the night of the shooting. The victim’s friend and Rose got into an argument and the victim led the friend away from the house in an effort to deescalate the situation, officials said. Court documents show that the victim then got into his car with his friend and was planning to leave when Rose came out onto his front porch and fired several shots of his pistol into the car, hitting the victim in the leg.
Officers arrived at Rose’s home and said they found several spent 9mm shell casings near Rose’s front porch and found a loaded Taurus 9mm inside the house. Rose was later taken into custody. When officers conducted a search of Rose, they found a loaded firearm magazine that matched the seized Taurus pistol.
Authorities said that when Rose was interviewed by detectives with the Lynchburg Police Department and admitted to handling the pistol but denied shooting at anyone. However, authorities performed a gunshot residue test and found the presence of gunshot residue on Rose’s hands consistent with having fired a gun.
The court sentenced Rose to a total of 18 years with nine years suspended and nine years to serve. The sentencing breakdown is as follows: 10 years with nine suspended on the charge of malicious wounding, three years on the charge of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and five years for the charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Eight years of this sentence constitutes mandatory minimum time.