Armed Felon Who Fired Into A Charlotte Apartment Sentenced To Prison

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - A convicted felon who fired a gun into an occupied apartment was sentenced today for illegally possessing a firearm, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

Robert Dale Emerson Jr., 37, of Charlotte, was sentenced to 105 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. On June 20, 2025, Emerson pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon.

Alicia Jones, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Charlotte Field Division, and Chief Estella D. Patterson of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD), joined U.S. Attorney Ferguson in making today's announcement.

"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."

"Today's sentence is yet another example of the outstanding partnerships that keep our community safe," said Chief Patterson. "Working alongside the U.S. Attorney's Office and the ATF, CMPD remains committed to ensuring that individuals who endanger our residents with violent and reckless actions are held fully accountable. We will continue to pursue every available resource and every collaborative effort to protect our neighborhoods and uphold justice."

According to court documents, on the evening of June 22, 2023, Emerson fired between five and six rounds into an occupied apartment complex from his vehicle. At the time of the shooting, a family, including a child as young as a year old, lived at the apartment. No one was physically harmed as a result of the shooting. Once on the scene, CMPD officers retrieved a shell casing from the road outside of the home.

Months later, in the early morning of November 5, 2023, CMPD officers found Emerson asleep in the driver's seat of his vehicle. Emerson's vehicle matched the description of the vehicle driven by the perpetrator of the June shooting. Law enforcement searched the vehicle and recovered a loaded Canik TP9SF semi-automatic pistol affixed to the defendant's right hip, loaded with an 18-round magazine and a round in the chamber. Officers also located a dual magazine pouch with two loaded magazines, each containing 18 rounds of 9mm ammunition, on the defendant's left hip. Inside the vehicle, law enforcement found a loaded handgun magazine, additional rounds of ammunition, and body armor.

CMPD's Crime Laboratory compared the shell casing collected during the June shooting against the firearm seized from Emerson. A firearm examiner determined Emerson's pistol fired the shell casing.

Emerson has multiple prior felony convictions and is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition.

In making the announcement, U.S. Attorney Ferguson thanked the ATF and CMPD for their investigation.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Charlotte handled the prosecution.