A Montgomery County judge sentenced 40-year-old Kenneth Oates of Gaithersburg to 100 years in prison, with all but 35 years suspended, for opening fire on his ex-girlfriend in a crowded Rockville park during a youth flag football game. Judge Carlos Acosta handed down the sentence on October 19, followed by five years of supervised probation once Oates is released.
The shooting happened on October 26, 2024, at Welsh Park, a 14-acre City of Rockville park with athletic fields, tennis courts and playgrounds that sits close to nearby residential neighborhoods, according to a community guide to Rockville's West End. Per WUSA9, Oates's on-again, off-again girlfriend was at the park watching a friend play flag football and was sitting in her car in the parking lot during halftime while her friend stood outside talking with her.
That's when Oates reportedly emerged from the woods with his hood up and walked toward her car. He pulled a loaded gun from his waistband and began shooting, according to the outlet's report. Police say he fired seven gunshots at the victim's car as she drove away through the field, with Rockville City Police Department putting the total count at 14 gunshots fired.
Families Scattered as Gunfire Erupted
The friend who had been standing outside the car ran through the field after noticing bullets striking the ground in his peripheral vision, the station's report states. The park was crowded with families at the time, and one man dropped to the ground to cover his son as the shooting unfolded. A 9-year-old boy saw Oates firing and hid in the playground, later telling his parents there was a “gunner in the park,” according to court documents cited in the same account.
No one was physically injured in the shooting, but Assistant State's Attorney Debbie Feinstein said the incident affected families and the wider community. Feinstein, who serves as Chief of the Special Victims Division within the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office according to WUSA9, expressed gratitude to the judge for issuing what she called an appropriate sentence.
A Four-Day Manhunt Across State Lines
Rockville City Police detectives located and recovered Oates's black Honda Civic in neighboring Frederick County the day after the shooting, as reported by Montgomery Community Media. He evaded capture for several more days before being apprehended in Washington, D.C., on October 30, 2024, where he was held pending an extradition hearing back to Maryland to face attempted murder and assault charges, according to Daily Voice.
The search was a multi-agency operation involving the Rockville City Police Department, the Frederick City Police Department, the Montgomery County Police Department's Repeat Offender Proactive Enforcement Unit, and the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, per The MoCo Show. Rockville Police Chief Victor Brito said at the time that bringing closure to the victims and residents was the department's top priority from the onset.
Jury Convicted Oates on Six Counts
A jury convicted Oates in April on one count of attempted second-degree murder, one count of first-degree assault, two counts of firearm use in a crime of violence, one count of illegal possession of a regulated firearm, and a violation of a protective order, according to WUSA9's reporting. Under Section 2-206 of the Maryland Criminal Law Code, attempted second-degree murder alone carries a statutory maximum of 30 years, a figure confirmed by the Maryland Judiciary, which helps explain how the combined charges allowed for a total sentence reaching 100 years.
Judge Acosta, who imposed the sentence in Montgomery County Circuit Court, previously served as Deputy State's Attorney in Prince George's County and as a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division's Gang Squad, according to his biography published by American University Washington College of Law. Initial emergency dispatches reached Rockville police shortly after 12:30 p.m. on the Saturday of the shooting, after multiple gunshots were reported in the park's parking lot during halftime of the game, Montgomery Community Media reported at the time. Two years after a sunny weekend youth sports event was shattered by gunfire, Oates now faces 35 years behind bars followed by five years of supervised probation once he is released.
