Asheville Man Receives 20-Year Sentence for Blue Ridge Parkway Shooting
A federal judge sentenced 33-year-old Christopher Joseph Gaddy to 240 months in prison after he shot a woman in the head at point-blank range on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The conviction triggers mandatory federal prison time and removes Gaddy from the community for two decades under statutes that impose consecutive sentences for assault with intent to commit murder and firearms violations.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Christopher Joseph Gaddy, 33, of Asheville, was sentenced June 5 to 20 years in federal prison for shooting a woman in the head on the Blue Ridge Parkway and then firing at pursuing law enforcement officers.
The sentence, handed down in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, comprises the statutory maximum of 20 years for assault with intent to commit murder plus additional consecutive terms for two counts of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. Gaddy must also serve three years of supervised release following imprisonment.
The assault occurred on July 23, 2023, when Gaddy approached a woman seated inside her vehicle at a scenic overlook, produced a handgun, and fired a single round into her head from less than three feet away. He then fled in his own vehicle. When marked patrol cars attempted to stop him, Gaddy fired multiple rounds at the officers. The victim survived the point-blank wound.
The case is part of routine federal prosecution of violent crimes committed on National Park Service land, which falls under exclusive federal jurisdiction. The Blue Ridge Parkway, administered by the National Park Service, recorded more than 16 million recreational visits in 2023; crimes prosecuted there trigger federal statutes rather than state charges.
The sentencing concludes the prosecution that began with Gaddy’s arrest on the day of the shooting. Federal prosecutors charged him with one count of assault with intent to commit murder in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 113(a)(1) and two counts of discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c).
The latter statute requires mandatory minimum sentences that run consecutively to any other term.
Downstream, the 20-year term removes Gaddy from society until at least 2043, assuming no early release. The Bureau of Prisons will designate him to a medium- or high-security facility. The case also reinforces the operational practice that violent attacks on federal parkland trigger immediate FBI and National Park Service law-enforcement response followed by U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecution in the Western District of North Carolina.
This marks the latest federal firearms-related sentence issued in the Western District for crimes committed on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which traverses 469 miles through North Carolina and Virginia and functions as both a scenic byway and a federal enclave.
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