Rhode Island man sentenced to prison after 23 guns, 36 large capacity magazines, ammo seized, shooting near park

Attorney General Peter Neronha announced that a North Smithfield man has been sentenced in Providence County Superior Court to serve at the Adult Correctional Institutions for possession of 15 ghost guns and dozens of large capacity magazines in his Slatersville home.

On Thursday during a hearing before Superior Court Justice Kristin Rodgers, 44-year-old Elliott Knorr was sentenced to 10 years at the Adult Corrections Institution with six years to serve and a four-year suspended sentence with 10 years of probation. Previously, in April 2024, the defendant entered pleas of nolo contendere to one count of possession of ghost guns, one count of possession of large capacity magazines, and one count of conspiracy to discharge a firearm in a compact area. 

Had the case proceeded to trial, the State was prepared to prove that Knorr had in his possession 15 ghost guns and three dozen large capacity magazines, as well as conspiring to fire a shotgun near a public park.

In March 2023, the Rhode Island State Police’s Intelligence Unit developed Knorr as a suspect involved in an incident where a shotgun was fired in the vicinity of Pacheco Park in North Smithfield.

On March 29, 2023, members of the Intelligence Unit executed a search warrant at Knorr’s home in North Smithfield where they arrested him and seized 23 guns, including 15 ghost guns, ghost gun jigs, and manufacturing tools, as well as 36 large capacity magazines. They also seized additional non-large capacity magazines and significant amounts of various calibers of ammunition.

Investigators also seized Knorr’s cell phone and reviewed video of the shooting incident that depicted him voluntarily being shot in his backyard, which abuts Pacheco Park, with two bystanders nearby in the line of fire. Knorr later told investigators that he was voluntarily shot with “rubber buck shot.”

Special Assistant Attorney General Daniel Hopkins of the Office of the Attorney General and Detective Mathew Lynch of the Rhode Island State Police led the investigation and prosecution of the case.