An Oak Ridge man who had been accused of shooting into the former Throttle Down Tavern while the business was occupied in July 2015 was convicted of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon after a jury trial in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on Thursday, authorities said.
A jury of 12 Anderson County residents found Gordon Scott Katz, 45, guilty after the one-day trial on Thursday and about 45 minutes of deliberation, Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark said in a press release on Friday.
Katz is scheduled to be sentenced October 9 by Anderson County Criminal Court Judge Don Elledge, Clark said.
Witnesses testified that Katz and a companion had been asked to leave the Throttle Down Tavern on Warehouse Road on July 26, 2015, before Katz was accused of firing shots into it, Clark said.
“Fortunately, none of the occupants of the building were struck by the bullets fired through the outside wall,” Clark said.
Reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon is a Class E felony, Clark said.
The case was investigated by Oak Ridge Police Department Detective Kevin Craig and prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney General Tony Craighead.
Katz had been indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury on July 6, 2016.
“I am grateful to all of those involved in making sure that justice was done in this case,” Clark said.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Do you appreciate this story or our work in general? If so, please consider a monthly subscription to Oak Ridge Today. See our Subscribe page here. Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today.
Copyright 2017 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Leave a Reply