Inset: Duy Nguyen (Boulder County Sheriff). Background: Green Meadows apartment complex in Longmont, Colorado, where Nguyen shot her boyfriend (Google Maps).

Duy Nguyen, 26, received a 40-year sentence last week after a jury in December convicted her of first-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault, as reported by the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office.

Police in Longmont, a city roughly 15 miles northeast of Boulder, were alerted to the incident just before 9 p.m. on February 5, 2025. They responded to a call from a 27-year-old man at the Green Meadows apartment complex, who reported being shot multiple times. According to prosecutors, the man was targeted “point blank” with at least six bullets as he opened his car door after returning from a bar.

Despite sustaining gunshot wounds to his face, shoulder, arm, and thigh, the victim survived. Although initially uncertain of the shooter’s identity, he suspected his ex-girlfriend, Nguyen, was responsible. The couple had ended their relationship several months prior to the incident.

Investigators used license plate reader images and shell casings found at the scene to track down the suspect’s vehicle. A search warrant at Nguyen’s residence led to the discovery of the firearm used in the attack, along with electronic evidence indicating that she had been plotting the shooting for weeks.

Investigators identified the suspect’s car using license plate reader images and shell casings recovered at the scene. While executing a search warrant at her home, cops recovered the gun used in the shooting as well as electronic devices which revealed she had been “planning the shooting for weeks.”

“The reason we were here on an attempted murder sentencing instead of a first-degree murder sentencing is only because, by sheer luck, the victim survived the defendant shooting him six times, including once in the face, at point blank range,” Boulder County Deputy District Attorney Brad Sherman said in a statement issued to the Daily Camera. “The court’s sentence of 40 years accurately reflects the defendant’s culpability in this case and hopefully brings a measure of justice and closure to the victim.”