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CASSOPOLIS – A Cassopolis man who fired shots at cars in and around Cassopolis last summer was sentenced Friday in Cass County Circuit Court to over two decades in prison.

Randy Paul Kirk, Jr., 48, of Brownsville Street in Cassopolis, was found guilty of nine felony charges at the end of a three-day jury trial in late May. The incident occurred July 26, 2022 when Kirk went on a shooting rampage in the Cassopolis and Vandalia area.

He was convicted of assault with intent to murder, felonious assault, two counts of resisting and obstructing police, one count of possession of ammunition by a felon, one county of possession of a firearm by a felon and four counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Kirk was sentenced to 22 years to 50 years in prison on the assault with intent to murder count, 21 months in prison for felonious assault and the two resisting police counts, 28 months in prison on the possession of ammunition and possession of a firearm counts and 2 years in prison on the four felony firearm counts.

The first five sentences are concurrent with each other while the four felony firearm sentences are concurrent with each other and consecutive to the other sentences.  Kirk was sentenced as a habitual offender.

Kirk has credit for 416 days already served and must pay $3,160 in fines and costs and $1,000 in restitution. His weapon and ammunition were forfeited.

Two people spoke before the sentencing. Hailey Colpitts spoke about getting a call from her husband that he and their young daughter had been shot at while driving down the road. Her daughter was three at the time and celebrated her fifth birthday Friday. Her husband, Justice Colpitts, also spoke.

“This family was put in harm’s way like several others,” Cass County Prosecutor Victor Fitz said. “I’m very proud to have had them as Cass County citizens. One of the minor tragedies of this incident was losing them as Cass County citizens.”

Fitz noted how close they were to “absolute carnage” without the quick thinking of Mr. Colpitts and the officers involved. “If the officer had been even five seconds later, we would have had bloodshed in the Dollar General,” he said. “… These individuals were really heroes, they saved us from a catastrophic result, we were seconds away from a mass shooting.”

“He shot again and again and again,” Fitz added. “Fortunately he didn’t hit anyone. He was hunting humans on this occasion … The message needs to be sent, if you shoot at human beings, try to kill other people and try to create a mass shooting, there’s going to be a severe price to pay.”

Defense attorney Greg Feldman said that Kirk had ingested meth before the incident. “His voluntary ingestion of meth is not an excuse, but an explanation,” he said. “He’s aware that the drugs he was using caused paranoia, it’s not an excuse but an explanation.”

Kirk said he was very sorry for his actions. “It sounds like the family is suffering from psychological harm, I’m very sorry for that,” he said. “I didn’t mean to scare anyone, I was scared myself. I didn’t want to hurt anyone, I just didn’t want anyone to get close. I just wanted to scare him away from me.”

He said he was going to the store to buy some corn chips to get some food in his stomach. “I’m thankful for the officers and Mr. Colpitts engaging me to get me to a place where I was safe to get my mind clear and on the right track,” he said.

Cass County Circuit Judge Mark Herman went over the details of the incident and said he was impressed with the officers’ actions in getting Kirk under arrest without anyone getting shot or killed.

“You explained that you were high on meth and alcohol and had been on a non-stop binge since the previous December,” the judge told Kirk. “As a result of the binge, you were suffering from paranoia and thought people were after you. You are not the first person to do things when strung out on drugs but that’s no excuse for your actions. You put many lives in peril.”