Beatrice man sentenced to probation for fatal 2020 shooting

BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) — A Beatrice man who pleaded no contest to felony counts in the fatal shooting of a man outside his home has been sentenced to six years of probation.

Brandon Long, 26, was sentenced Wednesday for the killing of Alex Rader, of Beatrice, the Beatrice Daily Sun reported. Long pleaded no contest in December to counts of making terroristic threats and being a felon in possession of a deadly weapon. In exchange, a second-degree murder charge and another weapons count were dismissed.

Police arrested Long after Rader was found shot Dec. 30, 2020, outside Long’s home. The two men knew each other, but Long said he didn’t know it was Rader when he pulled the trigger.

Police said Long told officers he was with his fiancé and their 2-year-old child inside their home when he heard noises outside. He grabbed a handgun, when to investigate, saw a man standing next to his house wearing a face mask and shot him, police said.

Police determined that Rader and Long’s fiancé were intimately involved and that Rader had gone to the home late that night to check on her after she texted him that she and Long had argued earlier in the day.

Long had faced up to seven years in prison.