A 27-year-old man who shot his handgun 21 times, accidentally killing his roommate, on Pullman’s College Hill nearly four years ago was sentenced Friday to three years in prison.

A jury in April convicted George M. Harris III of second-degree manslaughter after Harris shot 23-year-old Liban Barre eight times.

Harris faced about five years in prison, but Whitman County Superior Court Judge Roger Sandberg handed down an “exceptional sentence” by only imposing the mandatory three-year firearm enhancement because Harris used a gun in commission of the crime, according to court documents. Sandberg ruled that Harris was attacked, including with what appeared to be a real firearm, and showed “real and sincere concern” for Barre.

Whitman County Deputy Prosecutor Dan LeBeau said in the trial’s

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