A man who went on a shooting spree after trying to pay for his Burger King meal with drugs has been sentenced to 143 years in jail.
Eugene Robertson, 40, was convicted on eight counts of attempted murder with extreme indifference , four counts of felony menacing, illegal discharge of a firearm, possession of a controlled substance, harassment, and two counts of reckless endangerment. Officials said Robertson placed an order at a Burger King drive-thru located in the 600 block of S. Buckley Road in Aurora, Colorado , at around 11pm on October 17, 2022.
After pulling to the window, Robertson tried to pay for his food with meth, and when the employee declined to accept drugs as a form of payment, the man pulled out a gun, pointing the weapon at the worker. He then drove away, according to a press release from the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office.
Shortly after, police responded to a shooting at a 7-Eleven store across the street from the Burger King drive-thru. The district attorney said: "The store clerk said a man walked in and pointed a gun at his head. When the man noticed a television surveillance camera system, he shot the screen and left the store.
"In the parking lot, witnesses reported seeing the man shooting toward another person and his girlfriend before leaving." Nobody was injured in the incident but during their investigation, officers who spoke to witnesses determined the suspect and the vehicle involved were the same.
After midnight, Aurora Police received another 911 call from an apartment building on E. Kentucky Avenue, just minutes away from the convenience store. A woman told a dispatcher that a friend she knew as "Eugene" was knocking on her door and when she refused to open it, he fired shots, according to the district attorney's statement.
The victim was inside her apartment with other people but none of them were injured by the weapon. While cops were searching the grounds of the apartment building, they spotted Robertson on foot and even though he took off into some bushes, he was taken into custody without further incident.
He is now incarcerated in the Arapahoe County Jail as he awaits transport to the Department of Corrections. Senior Deputy DA Taylor McCreary said: "I hope this lengthy prison sentence provides some sense of safety and comfort for the victims who were traumatized that night. While we were lucky that no one was seriously hurt or killed, this defendant's egregious actions warrant several decades in prison where he won't be able to harm anyone else."
District Attorney John Kellner said: "The Aurora Police Department took swift action in piecing together multiple crime scenes and quickly identifying a suspect. I hope this century-long prison sentence serves as a warning that my prosecutors and I will not tolerate violent crime in our community."
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