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Man gets prison time for shooting incident

A Butler Township man will serve up to 13 years in prison for an incident in which he shot at another man, two vehicles and, ultimately, himself.

“I’d give anything to take that night back,” said Michael Lee Holt, 34, who pleaded guilty to attempted homicide.

He was sentenced Thursday by Butler County Judge William Shaffer to serve 78 to 156 months in prison.

According to court records, the incident occurred Sept. 9, 2014, at the Whitestown Village Apartments, where Holt lived.

Court records say Holt was speaking with his ex-girlfriend, Mary Wright, when Wright’s new boyfriend, Michael Shamber, unexpectedly arrived.

When Shamber began honking his car’s horn in the parking lot, Holt headed toward it. Shamber got out of the vehicle, and Holt fired at least three times from a 9 mm handgun “in an attempt to shoot or kill” the other man, documents said.

Shamber ran across the parking lot.

He walked to Shamber’s unoccupied 2000 Honda Accord and repeatedly struck it with the pistol. During the vandalism, the gun fired, hitting the driver’s door.

Holt next went to Wright’s 2007 Honda CR-V and used the gun to hit the vehicle. A round from the gun discharged and hit the car.

Holt went back into his apartment where he shot himself in the head with a 7 mm rifle.

Holt’s defense attorney, John J. Morgan, had asked the judge to show leniency on his client pointing to Holt’s mental health diagnosis of intermittent explosive disorder and bipolar disorder.

Holt also suffers numerous physical ailments related to his self-inflicted injuries, and he faces years of surgery. Holt must eat through a feeding tube and breath through a different tube.

Holt also was ordered to pay about $12,000 in restitution.

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