Local Bounty Hunter Charged In Walmart Shooting Incident
SPRINGFIELD TENNESSEE: (Smokey Barn News) – Back on June 18th local bounty-hunter Christopher Vickers fired his 40 caliber pistol in the parking lot of Walmart in Springfield rattling nerves.
The single shot occurred around 7PM that evening and was heard by a police officer, employees of Walmart and customers. No one knew what was happening for several minutes until police had time to piece it all together.
The bounty-hunter was planning on taking a fugitive into custody in the parking lot but it all went south when the fugitive ran.
The bounty hunter fired a taser at the fugitive in the middle of Walmart’s parking lot but missed and it became a foot chase. During the foot chase Vickers 40 caliber pistol discharged. Vickers told police back on June 18th that he fired one shot in the air to see if it would make the fugitive stop. Vickers told police and Smokey Barn News that he always keeps the first round in his gun a blank.
Back on June 18th Vickers was told by police that (blank or not) he may still be facing charges of Aggravated Assault and Reckless Endangerment.
Initially Springfield police were considering presenting their case to the Robertson County Grand Jury but after several meetings with Vickers, Springfield Detectives decided to charge him directly with Aggravated Assault and Reckless Endangerment. On Thursday, Vickers, 33, of Springfield turned himself in to the Robertson County detention facility in Springfield and he was released on a $30,000 bond.
Springfield Police told Smokey Barn News that the decision to charge Vickers directly was to prevent him from operating as a bounty hunter, at least while his case makes it’s way through the courts.
Three of Vickers bond conditions is that he can not operate as a Bounty Hunter, carry a gun or arrest people.
According to Springfield Police, Vickers later admitted that he was not truthful about the round in his gun being a blank and now admits that the round in the chamber was live. As far as why the gun discharged, Vickers told police that the gun went off accidentally while he was running after the fugitive.
The irony now is that the victim in the Aggravated Assault charge against Vickers (which is a Felony) is the fugitive that Vickers was pursuing back on June 18th.
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