‘Wrecking ball of danger’ linked to four shootings in Lubbock sentenced in federal court

A federal judge in Lubbock described a 44-year-old man involved in at least four shootings as a “wrecking ball of danger and violence” before sending him to prison for more than seven years.

Gary Moore, who pleaded guilty in June to a federal charge of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, faced a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

He appeared before U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix for a sentencing hearing late last month.

A combination of Moore’s criminal history and the offense level resulted in an advisory sentencing range of 57-71 months in prison.

However, Hendrix told Moore that based on what he had seen in the case, he intended to impose a sentence beyond the proposed sentence.

Moore’s federal charges stem from an arrest on December 15, 2023, in which Lubbock police officers arrested him on unrelated active warrants.

During that arrest, Moore, who was convicted in 2010 of possession of a controlled substance and being a felon in possession of a firearm, is accused of reaching into his waistband. He told officers he had a 9mm handgun, which was taken from him.

Investigators linked the gun to at least four shootings, three of which involved women Moore was dating or romantically pursuing.

On September 30, 2023, police responded to a shots fired call at an apartment complex in the 1600 block of Avenue R, where officers found a Ford Escape with a right rear tire punctured by a bullet. A spent shell casing lay a few yards away in an alley.

The vehicle’s owner told police that Moore, who had harassed her because she refused to go out with him, had sent her a message from a spoofed phone number saying he was outside her apartment.

The woman said Moore had damaged her car in the past and went outside to stop him.

She said she saw Moore in his tan car in the alley next to her car and the two were arguing.

During the argument, Moore pulled out a gun and shot at her vehicle. She said she hit his arm when he fired another shot and did not know where the second bullet hit.

Two months later, Lubbock police responded to a domestic disturbance on Nov. 15 in the 1900 block of Dixie Drive.

Officers spoke with a family who said Moore shot at them in their car.

One of the alleged victims was Moore’s girlfriend, who said she and Moore got into an argument that day when he refused to let her leave.

She said Moore pushed her to the ground and dragged her back to the apartment when she tried to leave.

The woman’s mother told officers she and her father arrived to pick up her daughter, but Moore refused to let her leave.

She said Moore tried to drag her daughter back to the apartment, but she and her father were able to pull her out and put her in their pickup.

Meanwhile, she said Moore allegedly went into his apartment to retrieve a gun and shot at their vehicle as they drove away. The woman said she heard three gunshots, the report said.

These two cases resulted in state charges against Moore for deadly conduct by discharging a firearm and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. These cases are still pending in the 364th District Court.

However, during last month’s sentencing hearing, the court discussed two more shooting investigations by Lubbock police that have not yet been charged.

In one instance, police officials believe Moore shot at his girlfriend’s car as she drove away from him.

In another shooting, Lubbock police investigators believe Moore shot at two people as they walked their dog, hitting one of them in the leg.

Prosecutor Matthew McLeod asked the court for a sentence at the high end of the guideline range, saying Moore has shown an inability or unwillingness to change.

“He remains a terror and a threat to people who just want to walk their dogs or don’t want to have a relationship with him,” he told the court.

Meanwhile, Moore’s attorney at the federal prosecutor’s office asked the court to consider mitigating evidence in the form of her client’s traumatic childhood, which involved physical and sexual abuse.

Kristen Ayers told the court that Moore was stabbed in the back when he was 11 while trying to protect his mother.

She said her client also struggled with mental health issues.

Hendrix told Moore that although his rough childhood played a role in the punishment he planned to impose on him, it would have only a minor influence on it.

“They in no way overshadow what you’ve done,” Hendrix said.

Hendrix told Moore that his previous convictions, including possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession of morphine, domestic violence and a previous case of felon in possession of a firearm, showed he had no respect for the law.

He said the combination of guns, drugs and violence in Moore’s criminal history shows he is one of the biggest threats to the community he has seen.

“And it’s clear you couldn’t control yourself,” he said.

He said the protection of the community outweighed the mitigating evidence.

“You are just a wrecking ball of damage and violence in our community,” he told Moore.

As part of the sentence, Hendrix ordered Moore to serve his federal sentence in addition to the sentence he receives in his state cases.

The aggravated assault charge carries a prison sentence of two to 20 years, while the deadly conduct charge carries a prison sentence of two to 10 years.

This article originally appeared in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Man linked to four shootings in Lubbock sentenced in federal court