Girlfriend’s sleeping ex shot. New boyfriend sentenced for attack

The new boyfriend and the old one didn’t get along.

And after a confrontation, the new one retaliated by firing several bullets into the other’s legs as he slept.

Pierce County prosecutors charged Kevin Eric An, 22, with shooting his girlfriend’s ex last year in South Hill, and Tuesday he was sentenced.

An pleaded guilty to drive-by shooting as part of negotiations with prosecutors, and Superior Court Judge Frank Cuthbertson gave him 18 months behind bars.

Charging papers give this account of the shooting:

An and the ex-boyfriend allegedly had a run-in Sept. 10, and one of An’s friends told him he needed to handle it “like a man.”

Early the next morning, An shot the former boyfriend as he slept in a car outside his aunt’s home near 101st Avenue East and 185th Street Court East.

Video posted on Snapchat the day before the shooting showed An talking about the victim coming after him. He also spoke about having to give up his gun, and plans to buy a new one.

The victim and his family wrote the court after the shooting to explain how it had changed their lives.

Loved ones said they took time away from work and school to care for the victim, and he wrote: “I now have to learn to walk and stand again. ... I don’t know how this is going to affect me in the future or if I’m going to be able to walk and work like I did before.”

Defense attorney Peter Reich said he had no comment on the case.

This story was originally published August 9, 2017 at 1:51 PM with the headline "Girlfriend’s sleeping ex shot. New boyfriend sentenced for attack."