An F.B.I. agent facing a felony charge after the authorities said his gun went off and injured a bystander after the off-duty agent did a back handspring at a Colorado club last month, can carry his gun again, a county judge said Tuesday.
Chase Bishop, 30, pleaded guilty to third-degree assault in Denver District Court for shooting Thomas Reddington in the leg at the Mile High Spirits and Distillery, prosecutors said in a statement.
Bishop’s gun was seen falling to the ground as he performed the backflip in a dance circle and it discharged as he picked it up. The FBI agent then coolly placed the gun back into a waistband holster and walked away with his hands up.
the victim, 24-year-old Thomas Reddington of Colorado said while out at the Mile High Spirits nightclub, he heard a loud bang and "thought some idiot set off a firecracker."
When he first looked at his leg, he noticed brown residue but wasn't concerned until he checked his leg a second time.
"All of a sudden from the knee down my leg became completely red," Reddington tells GMA. "And that's when it clicked in my head, 'Oh, I've been shot.'"
he spoke emotionally in court about how he lost his job at an Amazon warehouse after the shooting, his chronic pain and his concern that he may never be able to run again.
“I have done months of physical therapy,” he said. “I have sought counseling. However, being in public, especially seeing law enforcement with guns, makes me very uncomfortable.”
In November, the FBI agent pleaded not guilty to second-degree assault, which carries a penalty of up to 16 years in prison, before agreeing to a plea deal.
“My whole goal in life is to care, protect and serve people,” he said in court on Friday. “I never expected the result of my actions to lead to something like this.”
