CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A convicted felon was sentenced to prison Thursday for shooting into an occupied apartment in Charlotte, according to the United States Attorney’s Office.
Robert Emerson Jr., 37, was sentenced to nearly nine years (105 months) in prison. He pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon in June 2025.
In June 2023, Emerson fired five or six shots into an occupied apartment complex from his vehicle. A family, including a one-year-old child, was inside the apartment during the shooting, but police said no one was injured.
“Firing a gun into an apartment complex where families and children live shows a complete disregard for life and the law,” said U.S. Attorney Ferguson. “This thoughtless act could have killed someone going about their life at home. Those who terrorize innocent people in their homes will face federal charges, and the Court’s sentence today demonstrates they will pay the price.”
Months later in November, CMPD officers found Emerson asleep in a vehicle that matched the description involved in the June shooting.
Police searched him and found a loaded semi-automatic pistol on his right hip, and two loaded magazines on his left hip. Police also found a loaded handgun magazine, additional rounds of ammunition, and body armor in the vehicle.
A firearm examiner later determined that the pistol found on Emerson fired the shell casings in the shooting.
Emerson has multiple prior felony convictions and was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition.
