Man with eyeball tattoo pleads guilty to shooting cop

A man in Alaska nicknamed “Eyeball” because of a tattoo on his right eye pleaded guilty to shooting an Anchorage police officer in 2012.

Jason Barnum, 39, was sentenced to 22 years in prison on Jan. 3 this year in the Anchorage Superior Court.

The shooting occurred when Officer Daniel Thyen was searching a hotel for a burglary suspect. Barnum shot the officer in his right arm but the injuries were non-life-threatening, reported National Post of Canada.

Eyeball tattooing, which involves injecting ink into an eyeball, is not common but has become a minor trend.

Anchorage Police Department Chief Mark Mew said, "I’d like you to take a look at Mr. Barnum. I think Jason Barnum decided a long time ago that his life was about being hostile to people."

Barnum, although reflective about what happened, said the Department of Corrections was partly to blame because he had nothing to do and nowhere to go after he left prison back in 2010.

“I understand what I did was wrong and I cannot take any of it back,” he said, “but I was living on the streets, and I tried to get a job, but of course my beautiful face didn't allow me to do that," he said.