INDIANAPOLIS — A man from Indiana has received a 105-year prison sentence for the deadly shooting of a Dutch soldier in 2022, alongside the wounding of two other soldiers in downtown Indianapolis.
A judge in Marion County ruled on Monday that Shamar Duncan will serve 60 years for the murder charge, 35 years for attempted murder, and an additional 10 years for aggravated battery. All these sentences will run consecutively.
Duncan was found guilty by a jury just last month.
The individuals involved, including the deceased Simmie Poetsema, 26, along with the two other soldiers, had been engaged in training exercises at a military camp in southern Indiana. During a night off, they were returning to their hotel in Indianapolis when they encountered Duncan and his friends, as detailed in court files.
Witnesses reported that the soldiers attempted to calm the situation, yet a short scuffle ensued before gunshots rang out from a moving pickup truck.
The slain soldier, Poetsema, was a part of the Dutch Commando Corps.
According to an arrest affidavit, Duncan disclosed to an acquaintance that he fired at the soldiers because he had “just spazzed.”
During his sentencing, Duncan expressed remorse to the families affected by his actions. He also apologized to his own family for “letting them down,” according to local news reports.
