Austin bar patrons tackled a Texas attorney who allegedly tried to shoot his ex-girlfriend.
Surveillance video of the incident at the Anderson Mill Pub on November 26 was posted on Twitter by Austin City Councilmember Mackenzie Kelly.
“I’m deeply disturbed watching this video and committed to a safe city,” Kelly tweeted.
The video shows Gavin Rush, a lawyer in Austin, walking up to the bar and placing a satchel down. He briefly spoke to one of the women tending the bar, his ex-girlfriend, before allegedly pulling a handgun out and aiming it at her.
The man sitting on a bar stool next to Rush lunged at him as three shots were fired. The patron tackled the gunman, and they struggled, falling to the floor.
Within seconds, a second bar customer ran to assist the first. The men held Rush down until authorities arrived.
Rush, 41, was arrested on aggravated assault charges but was released on a $40,000 bond in two days.
When asked whether he thought that was a sufficient bond for a crime of this type, Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza said he did not know what information the magistrate had when making the decision.
He suggested, however, it was rare for prosecutors to involve themselves in the bond-setting process.
“Under state law and under local practice, the district attorney’s office and prosecutors generally are not present at the setting of bail,” Garza said. “That is something that municipal judges do without input from the district attorney’s office.”
Garza explained that typically, the case is turned over to the district attorney’s office after the bond is set.
“We are not allowed to communicate with judges alone, that is, without the presence of a defense counsel,” Garza continued.
“We have been working over the last year and a half to begin a pilot program that would allow our prosecutors to be present,” he added, “but the logistical challenges so far have been too high to overcome.”
