Ladd-Peebles Stadium shooter sentenced to 5 years in prison under plea deal

Ladd-Peebles Stadium shooter sentenced to 5 years in prison under plea deal

The gunman who opened fire three years ago inside Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile was sentenced to five years in state prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to attempted murder charges, court records showed.

Mobile County Circuit Court Judge Charles Gradick sentenced Hezekiah Belfon, 22, of Chickasaw, to 20 years in prison split to serve only a five-year term followed by five years of probation.

Belfon had been located and arrested in Florida in March 2022 after five months on the run.

Belfon was charged with five counts of attempted murder in connection with a shooting that occurred at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in the third quarter of a Vigor-Williamson game. Five people were injured, at least one of them seriously.

The shooting was the second in the stadium in a two-year period.

On Aug. 30, 2019, gunfire erupted at the stadium during a game between LeFlore and Williamson high schools.

Video from the scene, as well as a series of photos shot by a photographer covering the event for AL.com, show people scrambling and ducking for cover after shots rang out. Six people were treated and released while three more suffered non-life-threatening injuries.