FBI agent loses gun during dance back flip

[6518John]

Quoting from one news source:

"He had not been drinking at the time, as his BAC returned 0.00, according to court records"

Thanks Jim. This probably explains why he was able to simply get probation.

 

[Rudi]

I think any of us would get a free trip to the Crossbar Hotel.

 

[LVSteve]

And all that above is a damn same. As stupid and as bad as this stunt was, I would have given the kid another shot because of his military service. We should practice redemption and resurrection, not destruction. Make him work off all the damages for the person he shot, take his gun and badge and make him do administrative work. I am sure they have plenty of that to do in the FBI.

That's been the mentality of the US government since 9/11. When anything goes wrong, the first question is "Who is going to jail", when it should be, "Damn, how do we stop that happening again."

 

[Doug M.]

While in a way I am glad his tox results show no consumption, it also raises some questions in my mind about how on earth he could be so far from acceptable conduct. Being impaired would have explained (not excused) the incident. Now I have to believe that he was a long term sub-par performer who was simply lucky to have not screwed up that much or been caught.

He is getting another chance - he does not have a felony conviction and won't do any time. However, the standards for those of us who are authorized to use the lawful coercive power of the government are, and must be, higher than those for others. He should never work in government again, and probably never have authority over anyone in his professional life after this. This was not a questionable sarcastic comment to someone who is a jerk ... it was clearly incompetent conduct with a firearm that should never have happened.

 

[Faulkner]

Wouldn't surprise me if he doesn't end up getting elected sheriff or appointed police chief somewhere.

 

[sigp220.45]

All this negativity, yet folks here still revere Bill Jordan. Even the great Colonel Cooper fessed up to a couple of errant oopsies in his time, before it became an unforgivable offense.

I can assure you, based on my second career doing background investigations for police applicants, the chance of young Mister Bishop landing a job in law enforcement is extremely remote. A criminal conviction for shooting someone and a viral video of you doing it will put you to the back of the largest line there is. Oh, the liability.

The silence from all the posters who were sure he was drunk or drugged is a little surprising. No drugs, no alcohol.

After long consideration and now that this saga is done and the torches and pitchforks are stowed away til next time, I have decided to blame the Army. They had him for much longer than the Bureau did, and he was probably accustomed to picking up his M9 from the dancefloor by its much safer trigger.

 

[gman51]

That is total stupidity. Go into a bar with a gun knowing alcohol would more than likely be consumed....no intelligence there. Doing a back flip without removing his gun.........no intelligence there. Picking up his gun obviously with his finger on the trigger....no intelligence there. I would think this guy would be fired or put on permanent desk duty and disarmed.

Yeah those trigger safeties really aren't all that safe. Big time fail for safety and that guy just proved that. That is assuming the gun was using a trigger safety such as a Glock has. Safeties are made for when the safety between our ears fails. Proof in point right there.

This man evidently had zero mental training to program his natural actions for taking hold of his gun. His finger should not have been within the trigger guard. Of course alcohol could have negated any training he had. Just a point made drinking alcohol and having a gun doesn't mix well. It can be a bad cocktail.

But just like guns don't kill neither does alcohol. It's the user of either that does the damage. And people wonder why some people want all guns taken away even from law enforcement. This guy proved a badge doesn't mean safety with a gun. Again the gun gets the blame because people will say if he just didn't have that gun on his person the man wouldn't have been shot in his leg.

 

[handejector]

Graduate of Liberty University, Army officer, FBI agent - now an unemployed punchline.

Maybe he'll be on "Dancing with the Stars" next season??? A backflip ought to get major points.

 

[Muss Muggins]

All this negativity, yet folks here still revere Bill Jordan. Even the great Colonel Cooper fessed up to a couple of errant oopsies in his time.

As I recall, Cooper watched a fella rack a round at a show right in front of him and pull the trigger. Never said a word . . .

 

[Abbynormal]

To me, this DOES NOT PASS THE SMELL TEST! I'm smelling a BS cover up.

Granted, the journalism in articles leave much to be explained, but didn't acknowledge lack of co-operation with either Denver PD, Prosecutors, FBI, etal. News articles published in June, said Agent admitted to drinking that night and yet his BAC is 0.00? So when did lab results become available and why weren't they publicly acknowledged?

The FBI would have cut the guy loose at the first opportunity publicly, to avoid any more bad PR. Fore sure, they were aware that they too were liable for damages in Civil Court suits. Now, FBI neither confirms or denies firing. No word ever mentioned about liability to victim. Victim only wants to have phone conversation with shooter?

The victim has lost his job due (yet has gotten another) and was interviewed at notice of court decision ice packing his wounded leg (*** story?). So truely, he has an legitimate inability to perform his job. Definite liability here for injury/pain & suffering and loss of income. He for sure sustained a life threatening injury being shot in an artery in his leg.

Definite liability to Agent and most likely FBI as he is required to carry pistol off duty. The fact that the gun & ammo were FBI issued and the Agent was FBI trained and required to be armed at all times.

Smell is very high, enough to reach reeking rating.

If a normal Joe Blow did the same thing, where would he be now? 90% would be under indictment. Guy gets off with no felony charges.

We aren't getting the whole story.

 

[Muss Muggins]

What felony was committed?

. . . Guy gets off with no felony charges. . .

 

[M29since14]

That's been the mentality of the US government since 9/11. When anything goes wrong, the first question is "Who is going to jail", when it should be, "Damn, how do we stop that happening again."

Worth repeating 100x. Kudos to LVSteve! Unfortunately it seems to me this started long before 9/11, though I certainly do not dispute that the post-9/11 era has accelerated perfection of the phenomenon.

I agree this story is not being reported in full. I don't really care about the details. I just think the fellow should never again be employed in any sort of law enforcement/gun toting position. I imagine the judge involved can't order something like that. "The law is a crude instrument," and it seems it gets more crude with every passing day.

If the US Government wants to coddle him because of his veteran status and give him a job somewhere drivin' a desk, answerin' the phone, and filin' folders... I guess I'm OK with that. NO GUNS!

 

[bigwheelzip]

"My whole goal in life is to care, protect and serve people," Bishop told the judge on Friday. "I never expected the result of my actions to lead to something like this."

"Care". What a load of hooey! Negligently shooting into a crowd and running away is practically the equivalent of an automotive hit and run. He was only interested in "protecting" himself.

Don't care what happens to the agent, the shooting victim is the only one who matters.

 

[Watchdog]

To me, this DOES NOT PASS THE SMELL TEST! I'm smelling a BS cover up.

Granted, the journalism in articles leave much to be explained, but didn't acknowledge lack of co-operation with either Denver PD, Prosecutors, FBI, etal. News articles published in June, said Agent admitted to drinking that night and yet his BAC is 0.00?

I can't find any articles in which the agent admitted he'd been drinking at the time of the incident. Can you provide a link?

So when did lab results become available and why weren't they publicly acknowledged?

Quoting from a July 13, 2018 article in The New York Times:

"Mr. Bishop, who faces a charge of second-degree assault, will not face additional charges as the results of his alcohol and drug tests do not support any..."

 

[Muss Muggins]

If a normal Joe Blow did the same thing, where would he be now? . . .

Probably still employed, but having pleaded guilty to the same misdemeanor assault.

This statement always grinds my gears, as well as "If that'd been me . . . "

LEO's almost always face higher scrutiny when criminally charged. I say "almost always" because there is the rare exception, which is also almost always given high scrutiny, which makes me think it's not a break at all. I've seen plenty of cops go astray, and they almost always faced a larger punishment than John Q., and that punishment almost always included loss of job. Loss of job for a criminal charge in the general public is rare, unless the arrestee spends a lot of time in jail. John Q. also rarely faces round the clock media attention for days on end. I'm willing to bet that dozens of people were shot in Colorado that fateful night, most on purpose and not by negligence. Guess which one we get to hear and read about . . . ?

 

[sigp220.45]

And the beat goes on..........

Bishop never admitted to drinking. As far as I know, he doesn't drink.

He was legally armed in the bar. He was legally dancing, backflip included. He screwed up when he pulled the trigger when trying to quickly recover his gun from the dance floor.

I haven't seen anything saying he fled. The video stops a few seconds after the shot, before he knew anyone was hit. If anyone knows for sure what he did, I'd love to hear it. He certainly was never charged with anything like that.

I retired from the Denver office of the FBI. If you think there is some kind of love affair between the Denver PD and the FBI that would spawn a cover up to help this kid, I'm going to have to laugh in your face. Sorry.

The FBI will not comment on personnel actions, period. I see people who are talking heads on network news with "former FBI terrorism expert" scrolling under them who I personally know were fired and also never worked terrorism. But if an employer calls the Bu to ask all they will be given is "that individual was employed by the FBI from this date to this date". That's it, same for everybody. No conspiracy of silence.

Former US Army Captain and former FBI SA Chase Bishop is now basically unhireable for a law enforcement position due to this conviction and the enormous liability any department that puts a gun in his hand would face in the event of a use of force by him.

The FBI will write a big check, with your money, to try to make it right for the victim.

 

[Kanewpadle]

I feel sad for this man. One mistake is all it took. A lapse in judgment. But in certain professions, that's all it takes and rightfully so.

I understand the mention of greats like Jordan and Cooper. But this isn't the 50's and 60's. They didn't have cameras and social media. Up until maybe ten years ago, nobody knew that Mr Cooper dry fired a 44 magnum and put a hole in his living room window.

I'm willing to bet that this former agent lands on his feet and finds a good job. I hope he does.

"We are judged by our last worst act." Commissioner Reagan

 

[bigwheelzip]

I haven't seen anything saying he fled. The video stops a few seconds after the shot, before he knew anyone was hit. If anyone knows for sure what he did, I'd love to hear it. He certainly was never charged with anything like that.

In the flurry of reports that followed this event, it appears he immediately exited the club without ascertaining the impact of the negligent discharge, and waited for the PD outside, having never spoken to the person he shot. The shooting victim being interviewed during his recovery said he'd like to hear from Bishop.

Julie, a witness who recorded one of the videos and asked only to be identified by her first name, told KDVR-TV she smelled gun powder and saw a person bleeding after the incident. She told the news station, "Everyone was kind of shocked after it happened because [the agent] kind of put his gun back away and then he walked away." She said she asked the DJ to turn off the music. It initially stopped, but then the DJ started playing again.

"No one really knew what was going on," Julie told the news station. "I was shocked. I honestly just wanted to make sure that my friends … [that] I knew where they were."

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaVTuhMORfs[/ame]

 

[sigp220.45]

I'd say going outside and waiting for the cops was a prudent move.

 

[Muss Muggins]

I'd say going outside and waiting for the cops was a prudent move.

Nobody wants to fight a bunch of drunken associates of a just shot victim inside a loud, dark dance club . . .