- Dakota Lane Pierce was sentenced to 180 days in jail and 4 years probation after admitting to shooting, injuring a man he didn't know.
- Judge Amber Mettler suspended Pierce's statutory sentence of five years to life in prison, as long as he successfully completes probation.
- Pierce asked two men walking their bikes "you guys having a good night?" before pulling out his gun and firing last July, charges say.
SALT LAKE CITY — A man who admitted to causing serious injuries when shooting at strangers passing by him on the street about a year ago was ordered to spend 180 days in jail and four years on probation.
Dakota Lane Pierce, 24, was sentenced to five years to life in prison for felony discharge of a firearm, a first-degree felony, but 3rd District Judge Amber Mettler suspended that sentence in favor of jail and probation.
She ordered during his sentencing on June 25 that he would not receive any credit for the time he spent in jail since he was arrested last year.
Pierce admitted that on July 17, 2025, he shot a firearm in the direction of another person, knowing that it was putting them in danger.
Charging documents allege he approached two strangers who were walking bikes, asked "you guys having a good night?" and then, before they responded, he pulled out a handgun and fired on them multiple times. Several officers were called to look for someone who fled in a separate case, and were flagged by the victim and his friends.
A man who was in the car with Pierce told police that he had warned Pierce and reminded him that his daughter was with them — but Pierce still fired the gun and continued shooting after getting into the car, charges say.
The man was shot twice in the abdomen and was treated at a local hospital. He reported he believed Piece may have been shooting at someone near him.
Pierce later admitted to officers that he had consumed some vodka that night, and a man in surveillance video "looks a lot like me," and the child in the video was his daughter.
He pleaded guilty on May 1 as part of a plea deal that dismissed one additional charge for felony discharge of a firearm, a first-degree felony, two counts of endangerment of a child and three counts of felony discharge of a firearm, third-degree felonies, in addition to reckless endangerment, a class A misdemeanor.
