A 27-year-old Norwich man pleaded guilty on July 2 to a federal firearm offense stemming from an assault and shooting in New London last year, according to the office of U.S. Attorney John H. Durham.

The court hearing occurred via videoconference due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the government, on Sept. 14, 2019, Tremaine Dowdell and three associates assaulted a man outside of the H&T Mart on Ocean Avenue in New London. Surveillance video captured Dowdell removing a gun from his pants and firing a single shot toward the victim of the assault. The bullet missed the victim. When police arrived a short time later, officers found a .40 caliber cartridge casing at the location where Dowdell fired the gun.

Dowdell's criminal history includes state felony convictions for larceny, burglary and failure to appear in court  offenses. It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition.

On Oct. 3, 2019, a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment charging Dowdell with one count of possession of ammunition by a convicted felon. Dowdell was found and arrested at a residence in Sprague on Nov. 5, 2019. He possessed a loaded .25 caliber handgun and approximately 33 grams of crack cocaine at the time of his arrest, according to the government.

Dowdell pleaded guilty to possession of ammunition by a convicted felon, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years. He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton on Sept. 24, 2020.

Dowdell is currently detained.

The case is being investigated by the New London Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of the Norwich Police Department and Connecticut State Parole department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathaniel J. Gentile and Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney Paul Narducci.