FBI agent who dropped gun appears in court

An FBI agent who shot a man in the leg after dropping his gun while doing a backflip on a Denver dance floor appeared in court Tuesday for a routine hearing.

Chase Bishop, 29, waived his preliminary hearing, and his case was bound over to district court for an arraignment hearing on October 18 at 8:30 a.m.

Bishop has been charged with one count of second-degree assault in connection with the June 2 nightclub shooting, according to Ken Lane, spokesman for the Denver District Attorney’s Office.

Bishop made international news in June when a video of the shooting went viral.

Bishop was partying while off duty at Mile High Spirits, a distillery and dance club in the Ballpark neighborhood. In the video, Bishop dances in the center of a circle of people and then performs a backflip.

During the flip, his gun fell from its holster. When Bishop picked it up, the gun fired. Bishop then placed the gun in his waistband and walked off the dance floor with his hands in the air.

The bullet hit the victim in an artery in his leg.

The injury was serious but the man will recover, said his attorney Frank Azar.

A July protection order amendment in court allowed Bishop to carry his service weapon again on and off duty.

The FBI has not commented about the incident.

“In order to preserve the integrity of the ongoing investigation, we are unable to comment regarding this matter. The FBI will continue to fully cooperate with the Denver Police Department and the Denver District Attorney’s Office as this matter proceeds through the judicial process,” Amy Sanders, an FBI spokeswoman in Denver, has said via email.