FBI agent avoids jail time after gun fires while dancing
An FBI agent whose gun went off while dancing at a Denver nightclub, injuring a bystander, has pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and will avoid jail time, CBS Denver reported.
Chase Bishop, 30, appeared in a Denver courtroom Friday and was sentenced to two years of probation.
Bishop's gun went off on June 2 inside Mile High Spirits Tasting Room. The shot struck a man in the leg, seriously wounding him.
In a viral video that captured the incident, Bishop was seen doing a backflip on the dance floor and the gun fell out of his waistband. When he picked it up, the gun went off.
Bishop was off-duty at the time of the incident.
The Denver Post reported that Bishop pleaded guilty last month as part of a deal with prosecutors, and was also fined and ordered to pay restitution to the victim, 24-year-old Tom Reddington. Bishop reportedly apologized to Reddington, who was also in court Friday.
"My whole goal in life is to care, protect and serve people," Bishop reportedly told a judge. "I never expected the result of my actions to lead to something like this."
Judge Karen Brody reportedly cited Bishop's lack of criminal history as she agreed to accept the plea agreement.
"This is a tragic situation," Brody said after she announced Bishop's sentence. "It's a lesson for everyone -- how decisions, when you're not being conscious of what you're doing, decisions you make carelessly, with negligence, can turn into really serious consequences."
"I think in the future," she reportedly told Bishop, "you will never make that kind of mistake again."
An FBI spokeswoman declined to provide an update to CBS News on Bishop's employment status, citing a standard practice not to comment on personnel matters.
Reddington reportedly spoke emotionally in court about how the injury has affected him, saying he lost his job at an Amazon warehouse, suffers from chronic leg pain and feels uncomfortable when he sees armed law enforcement officials in public.
But according to the Denver Post, he said he "holds no personal grudge against Mr. Bishop."
"I've done stupid things at bars to impress girls, too," Reddington said.
