Cedar Rapids man draws prison in Fargo shooting

FARGO, N.D. - A Cedar Rapids man was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Fargo to 30 years in prison for robbing a downtown hotel and shooting at two police officers last summer.

In sentencing Eric L. Webb, 31, Judge Ralph Erickson followed the recommendation made by prosecutors as part of a plea agreement.

Fargo police who responded to a robbery at the Howard Johnson Inn on June 4, 2015, shot and wounded Webb as he tried to flee. Webb, in turn, fired three rounds toward the officers.

Webb spoke up several times during Thursday's hearing. At one point he said he respected the Fargo officer who shot him and forgave the officer. Webb also apologized for the robbery.

'I'm sorry to the hotel people, you didn't deserve to be robbed,” he said.

Turning toward the approximately two dozen Fargo police officers who attended the hearing, Webb said he hoped the sentence gave them some closure.

'They (federal officials) are going to do to me what they're going to do to me. I hope that gives everybody peace,” said Webb, a native of Cedar Rapids.

In a letter Webb sent to The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead shortly after the incident, Webb admitted he tried to rob the motel to try to get money for housing his family, then shot at police out of a desire to die rather than fail in his attempt.