A jury on Friday returned a guilty verdict on two felony charges against a man who drove onto the Arkansas State University campus in Jonesboro armed with a loaded shotgun.
Jurors deliberated for more than two hours in the trial before finding Brad Kenneth Bartelt, 48, guilty of making a terroristic threat and terroristic threatening.
He was later sentenced to 18 years for making a terroristic threat and six years for terroristic threatening. The sentences can be served concurrently.
Bartelt was acquitted of five counts of aggravated assault after prompting an active-shooter alert that forced the campus to shut down for about an hour Dec. 10.
He testified Thursday during his trial, which began Monday, that he had no vendetta against ASU but rather drove around the city on a near-empty tank of gas looking for a place to shoot himself, eventually setting his sights on the university’s student union lawn.
Parked in his truck, Bartelt brandished the weapon at times as police attempted to negotiate with him, though never opened fire.
Bartelt also told the court that he was critically injured in a April 2012 accident while enrolled in a truck-driving course at ASU's Newport campus. The injuries and requirement of pain medication, he said, made him unable to drive a truck.
Check back with Arkansas Online for updates and read Saturday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
Information for this article was contributed by Kenneth Heard of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.