Former guard recruiter convicted in 2013 armory shooting

A former Tennessee National Guard recruiter was found guilty by a federal jury on Thursday of multiple charges in connection with the wounding of three superiors in a shooting at an armory near Memphis in October 2013, prosecutors said.

Amos Patton, 43, had just been told he was being relieved of duty and recommended for a reduction in rank and separation from the active guard reserve for misconduct when he retrieved a handgun from a car and opened fire in a struggle with superiors, according to prosecutors.

A major was wounded in the leg, a sergeant major in the foot and a lieutenant colonel was grazed in the shooting at the Millington, Tennessee, armory about 16 miles north of Memphis. A command sergeant major subdued Patton outside the building.

Patton, a first sergeant at the time of the shooting, was convicted of four counts of assault with intent to commit murder and four counts of assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily image as well as discharge of a firearm.

He could face up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced on May 28 before U.S. District Judge John Fowlkes.