Fashion Island shooter sentenced to 12 years in prison

A man who fired a handgun 54 times at Fashion Island because it reportedly made him “feel better” was sentenced Friday to 12 years in state prison.

Marcos Gurrola, 42, of Garden Grove pleaded guilty to 54 counts of shooting at an occupied building and two felony counts of aggravated assault.

In December 2012, Gurrola drove to Newport Beach, pulled into Fashion Island’s parking lot and began firing a .40-caliber Glock toward Macy’s.

No one was hit, but in the ensuing panic, a woman and her 4-year-old daughter were hurt while trying to run away, leading to the assault charges.

Gurrola had faced a sentencing range of probation to 115 years in prison.

The Orange County district attorney’s office objected to the 12-year sentence, in part, prosecutors said, because Gurrola has a history of shooting to let off steam.

Prosecutors said Gurrola let off 10 shots at Fashion Island in November 2011, and in a separate incident, they contended, drove around in his car while shooting randomly.

But any charges related to those alleged incidents weren’t brought to trial, because prosecutors didn’t feel that they had sufficient evidence, Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Mestman said.

The prosecution did refer to the alleged incidents while lobbying for a longer sentence.

“I obviously argued that was an aggravating factor,” Mestman said.

When officers arrested Gurrola at Fashion Island in 2012, he explained that he’d shot at the high-end shopping center because “that’s where the rich people were,” Newport Beach police Det. Garrett Fitzgerald testified at a hearing last year.

Gurrola told police he shot the gun to make himself feel better after some money he’d been expecting didn’t arrive, according to Fitzgerald.

Police said Gurrola had six magazines for the Glock. Prosecutors said Gurrola also had ammunition for .44-caliber, .380-caliber and .38-caliber guns with him, but police found no other firearms.