San Jose man who shot unarmed Airbnb guest gets 15 years prison

A San Jose man who was convicted of shooting an unarmed college student staying at an Airbnb in 2022 will spend more than a decade in prison, prosecutors announced Thursday.

According to Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen, a judge sentenced 68-year-old Mark Henry Waters to 15 years. Waters was convicted in March of assault with a semiautomatic firearm in connection with the October 2022 incident .

During the trial, Waters argued that the gun went off accidentally. At sentencing, he urged the court for a sentence of probation.

In a statement Thursday , Rosen called the sentence a "sensible verdict for a senseless crime."

"Gun violence in our community will be met with the severest criminal consequences," the district attorney. "While this victim will not be healed by his attacker getting more than a decade in prison, we hope this serious sentence gives him and this county a sense of justice and relief that a dangerous person is off our streets."

According to prosecutors, the 21-year-old victim was crossing the street from the Airbnb to get dinner when Waters came to him with a gun pointed at his chest. The victim ran, but Waters yelled, "So you think you can run?" before shooting him in the leg. The victim's femur was shattered in the shooting.

Security video showed Waters pursuing the victim, pointing the gun and shooting him as he fled, with his back turned. Following the shooting, multiple firearms were seized from Waters' home.

The District Attorney's office had originally considered a hate crime charge against Waters, since he is white and the victim was Black.

While the victim spent a week in the hospital and underwent physical therapy, prosecutors said he continues to have difficulty walking for prolonged periods.