Thomas Qualls, the man shot in the stomach by police on Sept. 3, 2010, after stepping out the back door of his Admiral Way home armed with an assault rifle, was sentenced to a little over two years for second-degree attempted assault.

Originally charged with three counts of second-degree assault, Qualls, 59, plead guilty earlier this month and Judge Bruce Keller sentenced him on April 22 for only one count (as part of his plea bargain).

The Seattle Times reports that although police originally said Qualls had fired shots at three officers before they returned fire, no shell casings were recovered at the scene to prove he discharged his weapon.

In his plea agreement from April 8, Qualls plead guilty to one count of second degree attempted assault with a firearm enhancement. His statement read “I took a substantial step towards intentionally placing (the three SPD officers) in immediate and reasonable fear of an assault with a deadly weapon when I came out of my house with a rifle and the rifle was lowered.”

Charging documents from Sept. 3 revealed Qualls’ daughter called 911 after he told her over the phone that he and his wife had an argument, she had left and he was contemplating shooting himself.

Officers arrived at the Admiral Way home and three entered Qualls’ backyard to investigate. According to police, Qualls emerged from his back door with an assault rifle, lowered it, yelled “(expletive) you guys, I’m going to get you.”

The police report stated Qualls fired “possibly three times in their direction” (this later became the point of contention mentioned above) before the three officers returned fire, one bullet striking him in the abdomen. Qualls lied down on his porch and told the approaching officers “I’m not down,” according to court documents.

Qualls was taken to Harborview while police entered his house and found a series of notes leading from the kitchen to an upstairs bedroom that read, ““got back up! Going for blood,” “be careful, it loaded and ready to go!,” “Let play not you (Qualls’ wife), Love Tom” and “lock and loaded, let go,” according to charging documents.

For more background on the assault as told from charging documents released in 2010, please check out the Herald article, Admiral Way shooting suspect charged with assault.