Convicted Felon Runs Amok With Rifle During Children's Party, Gets 63-Month Sentence

A Southern Illinois man who allegedly fired an automated rifle at a child's birthday party in 2020 has been sentenced to more than five years in federal prison, prosecutors confirmed on Tuesday, June 22.

Marco B. Orr, 32, of East St. Louis, reportedly pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in April. Orr was sentenced on Monday, June 21, to 63 months in federal prison and was also ordered to serve an additional 3-year term of supervised release, Associated Press reported.

Orr was reportedly convicted in 2013 for aggravated battery with great bodily harm in St. Clair County and had been banned from possessing a firearm, according to The Department of Justice.

Surveillance footage obtained from CCTV cameras at the birthday party showed Orr carelessly firing an AR-15 style rifle into the air several times in a room full of children. The rifle used for firing was later recovered from his vehicle by an East St. Louis police officer. The rifle was reportedly loaded with 17 rounds of ammunition in a high-capacity magazine, the responding deputy said.

Orr was prosecuted as part of the U.S. Justice Department's Project Safe Neighborhood, which is a national initiative by the United States Department of Justice with the help of The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to reduce gun violence in the United States.

In a similar but unrelated incident, a man named Syed Habeeb Hashmi, 52, reportedly opened fire at his family members over an argument on March 8, under the Kalapather Police Station limits in Hyderabad, India.

Hashmi reportedly angrily opened fire at his wife and children with his .22 licensed rifle. Fortunately, none of the family members suffered any serious injuries as the bullets only hit the walls of the residence, The News Minute reported.

Alarmed by the sound of the bullets, neighbors and the locals alerted the police. The police rushed to the scene and immediately took Hashmi, a real estate agent, into custody.

Authortities have reportedly booked a case under Section 307 for attempted murder under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the Indian Arms act against Hashmi.

In another incident, a man identified as Sadanandam from Siddipet district, Telangana, India allegedly opened fire at his neighbor Ganga Raju using an automatic rifle, AK 47, over a boundary dispute in February last year.

Police later found out that the gun that Sadanandam used was reportedly stolen from a police station in 2017, the New Indian Express reported.

Ganga Raju luckily survived the incident without any injuries. Police reportedly recovered two bullets from the crime scene and launched an investigation into the incident to find out how Sadanandam acquired the assault rifle.

The gun was discovered to have been stolen from the Husnabad Station in Telangana in 2017. A detailed report was later sent to higher officials on the negligence of police personnel who were on duty at the station when the weapon was stolen.