State News: Man Sentenced to Prison for Discharging Weapon at Eupora High School

A Eupora man has been sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison for his illegal possession and discharge of a weapon on the campus of Eupora High School in March of 2018.

Nathaniel Cole Breazeale

Nathaniel Cole Breazeale, 20, was sentenced Monday afternoon by Chief U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock to serve 71 months in prison stemming from his discharge of a pistol at Eupora High School during school hours on March 28, 2018.

Information presented as part of the case showed that shortly before school dismissal on March 28, 2018, Breazeale drove a motorbike onto the Eupora High School grounds where he drove erratically around the band practice field before pulling out a 9mm pistol, firing multiple shots at the school building, and driving away in the direction of the elementary school.

Testimony revealed that at least one of the rounds fired by Breazeale struck a van, in which a parent sat waiting for her children. Students and parents who were outside the band hall waiting for dismissal ran for cover and the high school was placed on lockdown as a result of the incident.

Meanwhile, as anxious parents waited, elementary school students who had already boarded school buses bound for the high school were required to remain on board the buses in the high school parking lot until the scene was secured and cleared by law enforcement. Local, state and federal officers and agents responded to the chaotic scene and collected a total of six 9mm shell casings from the scene.

In sentencing Breazeale to the 71-month sentence along with three years of supervised release, Aycock noted that the need to “protect the public” was a “major factor” in her decision to impose the six-year sentence.

Breazeale, who pleaded guilty to being a prohibited person, and specifically a habitual user of narcotics in possession of a firearm, faced a maximum of 10 years in prison. Aycock ordered Breazeale to undergo drug treatment as a part of his supervised release and recommended that he receive treatment while incarcerated.

Hottytoddy.com staff report