Timothy T. Duax U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa
A Waterloo man has been sentenced to fifteen years in federal prison for his role in a gang-related shooting that took place in August 2022. Anthony Kyle O’Donnell, 37, pleaded guilty on November 18, 2024, to possession of a firearm by a felon.
According to court documents and information presented at sentencing, O’Donnell was one of four individuals who fired thirty-four rounds at a residence occupied by eight people, including a two-year-old child. The incident occurred on the afternoon of August 21, 2022. After the shooting, officers located two men dressed in all black near a residence about five blocks from the scene and found three firearms in a nearby shed. O’Donnell was found about a block away from where the firearms were recovered, also wearing all black clothing and sweating.
At the scene of the shooting, police collected thirty-four shell casings. Bullets entered both the living room and bedroom of the house. Four occupants sustained bleeding injuries from broken glass, and one individual suffered a graze wound from a bullet.
DNA analysis revealed that O’Donnell’s DNA was present on one of the recovered firearms—a stolen Beretta pistol—which had fired ten out of the thirty-four rounds used during the incident. Law enforcement determined that the attack was gang-related due to connections between several victims and suspects involved.
United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams sentenced O’Donnell in Cedar Rapids to 180 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
“This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results,” according to officials.
O’Donnell will remain in United States Marshal’s custody until he is transported to federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kyndra Lundquist. It was investigated by a Federal Task Force made up of members from local law enforcement agencies as well as federal partners including the Waterloo Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office, and Cedar Falls Police Department.
