A Fayetteville man has been sentenced to seven years and two months in federal prison on a charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to the Fayetteville Police Department.
On Feb. 27, 2020, a shooting was reported in the parking lot of McDonald’s restaurant in the 500 block of Grove Street, according to a Police Department news release.

Third-party witnesses said they saw a man — later identified as Kendale Tyrone Strange — pull into the rear parking lot and confront the victim, according to the news release. Strange struck the victim in the back of his head with a handgun, and the gun discharged, the witnesses told investigating officers. The victim fell to the ground and Strange drove away, witnesses told officers.

A spent shell casing was collected as evidence, the release said.
A parallel drug investigation by the Police Department’s narcotics unit showed drug-trafficking activity at Strange’s residence on School Street, the release said. On March 18, 2020, officers searched the home and found a 45-caliber Hi Point handgun in the trunk of Strange’s car. Ballistic analysis showed that the handgun was the same gun used in the assault in the McDonald’s parking lot, the news release said.

Strange was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, the release said.

Strange was sentenced to seven years and two months on Dec. 28 in U.S. District Court in New Bern by Judge Louise W. Flanagan.

The Fayetteville Police Department, FBI and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tyler Lemons and Nicholas Hartigan prosecuted the case, according to the release.