Atlanta man sentenced to over 10 years for threatening women's clinic, shootout during armed robbery
An Atlanta man has been sentenced to over a decade in federal prison for threatening to shoot up a local women's clinic and an armed robbery that ended with bullets flying.
Last October, 25-year-old Maximo Fitzhugh pled guilty to communicating interstate threats and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence for the two 2024 incidents.
Prosecutors say the situation began on April 9, 2024, when Fitzhugh called an Atlanta woman's clinic and told the employees he was planning to "shoot the whole place up." The clinic called law enforcement and locked down until officers could secure the area.
On Aug. 1, 2024, Fitzhugh held up a mail carrier who was working near the Buckhead Village shopping center, officials say. Surveillance video showed Fitzhugh pointing a gun at the carrier and threatening to kill her.
An armed passerby noticed what was going on, told Fitzhugh to stop, and fired at him, causing the Atlanta man to hide, fire his gun into the air, and run from the area, officials said. No one was injured in the shooting.
FBI agents took Fitzhugh into custody on Aug. 19, 2024.
On Friday, a federal judge sentenced Fitzhugh to 10 years and six months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release.
"Threatening mass violence and then carrying out an armed robbery that escalated into a public shootout is the kind of dangerous conduct that puts entire communities at risk," said Marlo Graham, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Atlanta branch. "Today's sentence reflects the seriousness of these crimes and the FBI's commitment to working with our partners to hold violent offenders accountable."
