By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

HELENA – A 40-year-old Helena man will spend the next year in prison after he pleaded guilty to discharging a gun into an occupied vehicle stemming from a road rage incident in 2017.

Christopher Shaun Downey, who lists an address on North Drive in Helena, pleaded guilty to one felony count of discharging a gun into an occupied vehicle during an Oct. 24 hearing.

Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Crowson originally sentenced Downey to 10 years in prison, but split the sentence to one year in prison followed by two years of supervised probation.

Should Downey violate the conditions of his sentence, his entire 10-year sentence could be reinstated.

On April 27, 2017, Shelby County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the area of Shelby County 52 and Ross Drive in Helena on a possible road rage incident that included shots being fired.

The victim in this incident followed the suspect for several miles, turning onto Eastern Valley Road and continuing towards Woodstock. When deputies arrived on scene, Woodstock police officers had both vehicles stopped and found one vehicle with a bullet hole in the rear quarter panel.

The suspect vehicle, driven by Downey, was impounded along with a 9-millimeter handgun found inside the cab of the truck.

There were no injuries to any of the occupants of the vehicle that was shot into.