CLAY CENTER, Neb. - A Lincoln man was sentenced Tuesday to 22-30 years in prison for his part in a shootout with law enforcement officers last year in DeWeese.

Wesley Blessing, 47, was convicted in July on two counts of assault on an officer and two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Three other counts of assault on an officer, another count of felon in possession of a firearm and a drug charge were dismissed as part of a plea bargain.

The April 2020 incident began when Hastings police told Clay County authorities that Blessing was holding a Hastings woman against her will. Later Blessing fired shots at a law enforcement officer on a Clay County road. Then he made his way into DeWeese where, after confronting law enforcement officers, he was shot and wounded. During the incident, officers from Clay County, Fillmore County, Nuckolls County, Adams County, the Harvard and Sutton police departments and the Nebraska State Patrol were involved.

For the shots fired on the county road, Blessing was sentenced to 16-20 years for assault on an officer and 6-10 years for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. Those two sentences will be served one after the other.

In a separate case for the shoot-out in DeWeese, Blessing was sentenced to 16-20 years in prison for assault on an officer and 6-10 years for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. Each sentence will be served one after the other.

However, the judge ruled that he would serve the sentences for both cases concurrently, or at the same time. So Blessing’s time in prison could be as short as 16 years or as long as 30 years.

Since April of last year, Blessing has been held in the Tecumseh state prison. He was given credit for the 17 months he has already served.

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