Kenneth Fuller

Introduction

Kenneth Fuller, a 43-year-old man from Charlotte, North Carolina, was convicted by a federal jury of possession of ammunition by a felon — two counts stemming from two separate shootings at Charlotte businesses eleven days apart, in which he fired a handgun into a Waffle House and then shot twice at a convenience store employee. The jury returned its verdict after a three-day trial presided over by U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell, and U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson of the Western District of North Carolina announced the result. Trial evidence showed the cartridge casings recovered from both scenes were fired from the same firearm. Fuller, who has multiple prior felony convictions in North Carolina including distribution of cocaine, faces up to fifteen years in federal prison per count, with no sentencing date set.

Background Information

The two counts arose from a pair of early-morning encounters, both involving Fuller’s black Maserati sedan. The first came on December 20, 2024, at a Charlotte Waffle House, where officers responding around 5:53 a.m. heard from multiple witnesses and employees: an individual later identified as Fuller claimed he had paid too much, demanded a refund, became upset, and shot a handgun into the air before driving off; officers recovered a single .40 S&W caliber discharged case in the grass. Two weeks later — on January 3, 2025 — Fuller came into a Market Express store around 5:40 a.m. for food, complained about his order, argued with employees, left, and returned that same morning around 7:10 a.m., when he fired two times at one of the store employees and fled. Officers recovered two .40 S&W caliber shell casings and observed two large bullet holes in the windowpane left of the store’s door.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Convicted by a jury; sentencing pending. A federal jury found Fuller guilty on two counts of possession of ammunition by a convicted felon after a three-day trial; sentencing has not yet occurred, and no count was acquitted.

The adjudicated facts assembled at trial closed the loop between the scenes and the man. Officers arrested Fuller on January 13, 2025 — ten days after the Market Express shooting — seated in the driver’s seat of the same black Maserati driven in both incidents. Trial evidence established that the discharged cartridge casings seized from the two scenes were both fired from the same firearm, tying the Waffle House shot into the air and the two shots aimed at the store employee to a single gun. The federal charges themselves were narrower than the conduct: as a felon with prior North Carolina convictions including cocaine distribution, Fuller was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition, so the case charged his possession of the ammunition he fired. Ferguson said, “This convicted felon shot into two businesses while employees and patrons were present,” adding, “We cannot stand idly by when people endanger innocent life.”

Public Reaction and Consequences

The verdict drew paired statements from the prosecution and the ATF. Ferguson: “By putting people like Fuller behind bars, everyone else can go about their daily life without worrying about their safety.” ATF Special Agent in Charge Alicia Jones called it “such a careless and blatant disregard for public safety,” saying it “puts our entire community at risk” and that ATF and its partners “will continue to hold reckless individuals accountable for their violent threats and dangerous behavior.” The case was investigated by the ATF and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte prosecuting, and was brought under Operation Take Back America. The immediate consequence is custody pending sentencing and an exposure of up to fifteen years per count.

Current Status

Fuller stands convicted on both counts of possession of ammunition by a convicted felon, and a sentencing date has not been set. The statutory range is up to fifteen years in federal prison per count, and his criminal history — multiple prior North Carolina felony convictions including distribution of cocaine — will drive the guidelines calculation upward. The trial record now documents both shootings, the ballistic link between them, and the Maserati that connected the scenes; the announcement does not report any charge arising from the shots themselves beyond the ammunition counts, and no statement from Fuller or defense counsel appears in it. Until sentencing, the convictions are final verdicts but unexecuted punishment.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The two convictions convert a pair of early-morning outbursts — a refund dispute that ended in a gunshot over a Waffle House dining room, a food-order complaint that ended in two shots aimed at a store employee — into a federal sentencing exposure of up to thirty years combined, measured against a criminal history that already includes cocaine-distribution felonies. At 43, Fuller faces a guidelines range his priors will push toward the top of the statutory band, and the ballistic evidence — one gun, three discharged rounds, two businesses — forecloses any argument that the incidents were unconnected. The Waffle House employees and patrons who were present, and the Market Express employee at whom the shots were aimed, now have a court record documenting both scenes; the sentencing hearing will set the number the record carries forward.

Sources

• U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of North Carolina, “Man Involved in Two Separate Shootings in Charlotte Convicted at Trial for Possession of Ammunition by a Felon,” November 4, 2026. source