Indianapolis man gets federal prison for having an AR-15 in downtown parking garage

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An Indianapolis man will spend over six years in federal prison after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

A judge sentenced 33-year-old Antoine Hopkins on Wednesday to 80 months prison for illegally having, and firing, an AR-15 in a downtown Indianapolis parking garage, court documents say.

Just after 2 a.m. on May 16, 2021. an off-duty Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer was working at a parking garage when a woman approached him, saying she had seen Hopkins with a rifle and he was making threats toward her.

Prosecutors say the officer then heard a shot and identified Hopkins as the shooter. Court papers say the AR-15 was loaded with two 30-round magazines.

At the time, Hopkins was staying in a residential reentry center, sometimes called a halfway house, after being convicted in 2019 for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

According to court documents, Hopkins also has prior felony convictions in Indiana for resisting law enforcement, possession of cocaine, and carrying a handgun without a license. Each of these convictions prohibit him from possessing a firearm.