BARRE — The Berlin man who shot at a woman and her daughter last December in what police described as a hate crime has been sentenced to six months in jail.

Danny Lawson, 52, was convicted of reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct in Washington County criminal court in Barre on Wednesday and sentenced to nine months to two years, all suspended except six months.

Police believed the shooting at Heather Richardson, of Berlin, and her 12-year-old daughter, who are both black, was racially motivated as Lawson repeatedly used racial slurs when speaking about them to police after he was arrested.

Richardson said Lawson shot twice over her and her daughter’s heads as Richardson was picking up the girl from a bus stop in Berlin.

Lawson told police he shot his rifle in the air because he felt he needed to protect his recently purchased car from people who would steal the hubcaps.

Lawson has two previous convictions for violent crimes and five misdemeanor convictions. In 1995, he was convicted of domestic assault and reckless endangerment. In 1991, he was convicted of simple assault.