Local resident Aaron Ray Lincoln has been sentenced to almost three years in prison after attacking Ryterra Quarry employees two years ago.

According to court documents, Lincoln was sentenced on March 15 to 33 months for three counts of second degree assault and one county of second degree robbery when he entered the quarry on July 12, 2022, and threatened workers with a loaded weapon.

Lincoln initially pleaded not guilty, but switched his plea last December in exchange for prosecutors amending the robbery charge from first degree to second.

The standard range for both types of charges is 33 months to 43 months.

In addition to his prison sentence, Lincoln will also serve 18 months of community custody after his release, and must have no contact with several Ryterra employees for 10 years.

Any restitution awarded to the victims is not set at this time.

According to court documents, the defense asked for the lower end of the sentence due to numerous extenuating circumstances, which include addiction, and because Lincoln showed remorse for his actions.

“Mr. Lincoln knows he is in a unique position to help other[s] struggling with addiction, and he wants to turn his struggles and challenges into lessons for others,” his attorney wrote. “He is committed to this effort, and… I know he will make a positive difference in his community.”

Numerous family members and friends testified to this as well in letters to the judge.

THE INCIDENT

New court documents revealed additional information from what was previously available about the 2022 attack.

Previously reported was that Lincoln entered the quarry and, when approached by the owner, said that “people are going to die today.”

Lincoln then wandered the quarry with his gun and, at two separate times, held two employees at gunpoint. Both managed to escape after Lincoln became distracted.

When officers eventually confronted Lincoln, he did not comply with orders, and was shot with non-lethal rounds.

At Lincoln’s arraignment hearing, prosecutors called the incident “a mass shooting in the making.”

But in the defense’s pre-sentence report, Lincoln’s attorney wrote that Lincoln was in an altered state of mind and that he was attempting to ask the quarry workers for assistance.

“It was an exceedingly chaotic scene, and all the men at the quarry were in fear for their life due to Mr. Lincoln’s words and actions, and Mr. Lincoln was in fear of the men at the quarry and the police and was acting erratically,” his attorney wrote, noting that this was not meant as “an excuse,” but to provide context to Lincoln’s actions.

After detoxing in jail, Lincoln was reportedly “devastated” and worked hard to get sober and reconnect with his loved ones, according to his attorney.