Chicago man sentenced to nine and a half years in prison for attempting to shoot federal agent

CHICAGO (CBS) – A Chicago man has been sentenced to nearly a decade in federal prison after attempting to fire a loaded gun at a federal agent, the United States Attorney's Office announced Tuesday.

Joseph Hammond, 35, pleaded guilty earlier this year to assaulting a federal officer.

The office said on June 3, agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives approached Hammond, in the 6800 block of South Sangamon Street in Englewood, following a report of a man holding a gun and a toddler. 

When agents and officers approached in a vehicle, Hammond pointed the gun at an agent and said, "move along."  He pulled the trigger, but it misfired, the office said.  

Hammond ran from the area while holding the toddler and was arrested following a short pursuit. 

"By running through Englewood at 1:00 a.m. and brandishing a loaded firearm at law enforcement, defendant threatened the lives of the law enforcement officers, the public, and his own family," Assistant U.S. Attorney Misty N. Wright argued in the government's sentencing memorandum.  "It is this rush to threats and violence that is getting people killed in our communities."

Hammond was sentenced to nine and a half years in federal prison. 

Neither the toddler nor the agents were injured.