More than a year after terrorizing the residents of a Dowagiac living complex, the Benton Harbor man who fired several shots at an occupied apartment last spring faced justice Friday in Cass County court.

Circuit Court Judge Mark Herman sentenced 30-year-old Karl Kelvin Ross Jr. to a minimum of seven years to a maximum of 40 years in prison that morning on several charges, including discharging a weapon toward a building, assault with intent to commit great bodily harm less than murder, carrying a weapon with unlawful intent, possession of a firearm by a felon and felony firearms. Herman also imposed a mandatory two-year term consecutive to the first sentence for the felony firearms charge.

Ross pleaded guilty to the charges Sept. 12.

The shooting in question occurred during the early morning hours of April 11, 2016, at the Eagle’s Trace Apartment complex in Dowagiac.

The incident was sparked by a confrontation between Ross and a local resident hours earlier at the complex, over a drug deal gone wrong.

The Benton Harbor man returned to the location a few hours later after retrieving a handgun, and fired several shots into a second-floor apartment where he believed the other man lived — a wrong assumption, as a family that had no relation to the other party lived there.

The five adults and one child staying there that evening were not injured in the attack. However, the incident traumatized the family, who will live with the memories of the “volatile, dangerous and potentially dangerous” night for the rest of their lives, said Cass County Prosecutor Victor Fitz.

“If the defendant had shot that gun a few feet to the left or a few feet to the right, or a little more up or down, it could have been even more tragic,” Fitz said.

While praising Ross for cooperating with authorities on his and other cases since his arrest last spring, Fitz said the defendant needed to face prison for his behavior that evening.

Ross was also on parole when he committed the shooting. His prior record consists of several felonies, including home invasion, resisting police and drug-related offenses, Herman said.

“It appears you have spent half of your adult life, or at least close it, incarcerated,” the judge said to the defendant Friday.

Ross said he took full responsibility for the shooting when asked for comment that morning. He said that he fired upon a darkened room that night, away from where the occupants where staying.

“I did not go with the intention to harm anybody,” he said. “I intentionally shot at just the building. I did not want to hurt anybody.”

Due to the fact he was serving on parole, Herman did not give Ross any credit for time he already served behind bars. The defendant will serve the two sentences consecutive to any additional prison time he receives for violating parole.