A former Colorado Springs physician was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years in prison for a shooting “frenzy” that left one person injured last year.

According to previous reporting by The Gazette, Rupesh Jain, 54, fired shots inside his own apartment near Interquest and Voyager parkways and wounded a sleeping neighbor before shooting into two Key Bank locations and a Village Inn restaurant Sept. 15, 2024.

In July, Jain entered into a plea agreement that found him guilty of assault with extreme indifference and illegal discharge of a firearm, with the remaining counts to be dismissed.

Judge Jill Brady described the incident as a “tragedy all the way around” and said she found that Jain’s letters of support characterized him as an “exceptional and caring doctor” as a plastic surgeon prior to his brain injury.

Jain told the court Tuesday that in April 2022 he suffered a traumatic brain injury on his right frontal lobe caused by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

He described how his injury impacted his ability to manage his mental health and said his actions were something he would “never do, but I did.”

Jain’s attorney told the court that after his injury, he required surgery to regain the ability to walk and talk and his support system did not know he was emotionally scarred around the time of the incident. In this state, Jain had intended to kill himself at the end of his rampage.

“I have spent my entire life helping people and healing people,” Jain said through tears. “I cannot be any more remorseful for what happened.”

The neighbor shot by Jain, Laken Duerschmidt, had a letter read aloud to the court stating he was shot in the forearm and has gone through months of physical therapy. Duerschmidt’s letter stated the moment “shattered” his sense of safety at home and his injury has caused writing, dressing and cooking to be painful.

The prosecution argued there was “no doubt” that Jain was suffering but argued he should receive a 15-year sentence, the maximum, because his actions were “consistent with someone terrorizing the community.”

Jain’s defense asked the judge for a 10-year sentence, the minimum, due to his neuropsychological condition and improvements in receiving mental health care since the incident.

Ultimately, Brady sentenced Jain to 12 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections with a three-year concurrent sentence for the lesser charge.

The judge justified her sentence to the court by balancing the severity of the crimes and the danger to the community with the circumstances that “mitigate imposing a maximum sentence.”

“I really do feel sorry for those impacted, but also for Dr. Jain, and that might not be right, but that’s how I feel because in this case it is pretty apparent why you committed these crimes,” Brady said.

Jain, whose medical license expired, according to records, has no other criminal history. His attorney stated he wanted to become “Rupesh 2.0” while in prison to improve himself. Still, the judge cautioned Jain about being in a similar state of mind as the incident because it “could happen again if you are not careful.”