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Michigan man pleads guilty to fatally shooting 2 men who were setting off fireworks at New Year's party

Christopher Alan Toppenberg, a 63-year-old man from western Michigan, faces up to 15 years in prison for fatally shooting two men who were setting off fireworks at a party.

A western Michigan man faces up to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in a January shooting that killed two men who were setting off fireworks at a New Year’s party.

Christopher Alan Toppenberg, 63, of Lawrence Township, pleaded guilty last week in 36th Circuit Court in Paw Paw to a charge of discharging a firearm under the influence of liquor or a controlled substance and causing death, according to court records, The Detroit News reported.

That charge carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison. Toppenberg’s sentencing is scheduled for July 17.

MICHIGAN WILDFIRE THAT BURNED OVER 3 SQUARE MILES SPARKED BY CAMPFIRE

In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors dropped two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of using a firearm during the commission of a felony. Toppenberg was charged days after the deadly shooting.

MI MAN WHO SERVED 21 YEARS FOR WRONGFUL DOUBLE HOMICIDE CONVICTION HAS CHARGES DROPPED

Police said Toppenberg was with a group of people celebrating New Year's in a wooded area shortly after midnight on Jan. 1, when he got out an AR-15 rifle and fired 20-25 rounds horizontally in the direction of two men who were setting off fireworks about 100 feet away.

The men, Jason McCreary, 40, of Sutter Creek, California, and David Reed, 35, of Waverly Township, were fatally wounded by gunfire. McCreary died at the scene, while Reed died at a hospital.

The shooting occurred in Lawrence Township, about 28 miles southwest of Kalamazoo in Van Buren County.

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