The judge told 29-year-old Long Ngoc Hoang, "You have certainly wronged my community, your community and everyone else’s."

Colorado Man Convicted Of Attacking Gay Couple At Pool: “I Am Going To Get My Gun And Kill These Fools”

A Colorado man who attacked a gay couple at an apartment complex swimming pool has been sentenced to three years in prison.

In August, 29-year-old Long Ngoc Hoang pleaded guilty to one count of bias-motivated crime causing bodily injury after attacking Nick Shores and his boyfriend on June 5, 2016. When the couple entered the pool area, Hoang yelled an anti-gay slur and then attacked them, punching Shores in the head. Another assailant began choking Shores, who fell to the pavement and was knocked unconscious. (Shore’s boyfriend also was injured in the attack.)

Before leaving, Hoang yelled, “I am going to get my gun and kill these fools.” He returned soon after with a baseball bat, banging it against a fence and yelling more homophobic obscenities.

On Monday, Shores addressed the court before sentencing, asking it to take into the account the “gross violence” of the incident.



“The attack was only because I am gay, and there are many other gay people out there,” Shores told Judge Ben Leutwyler. “This gives us the opportunity to set a precedent for others in our community that violence against gays will not be tolerated.”

Judge Leutwyler told Hoang that the assault on Shores was “unfathomable.”

“I cannot understand that conduct,” he added. “You have certainly wronged my community, your community and everyone else’s.”

Not all victims feels safe publicly identifying their attackers, but the DA’s office said Shores felt strongly he needed to raise awareness about the vicious hate crime.

“What’s remarkable about this case is the strength of the victim. In some cases like this, victims don’t report, and if they don’t for whatever reason, we don’t have the opportunity to prosecute,” said Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler. “Our laws, this prosecution, and the sentence to prison are strong indicators that Colorado is committed to relegating this kind of bigoted violence to the dustbin of history.”