PHOENIX — An Internal Revenue Service agent was acquitted Wednesday of involuntary manslaughter of a U.S. officer in the shooting death of a fellow agent after a training session at an Arizona gun range.
Prosecutors said Larry Edward Brown Jr. handled his gun with reckless disregard for human life when he shot IRS Special Agent Patrick Bauer on Aug. 17, 2023.
Brown, who cried when the verdict was announced, offered his “sincerest condolences to the Bauer family” in a statement issued through his attorneys. “Pat was a great man,” Brown said. “He was a mentor and like a brother to me. I miss him every day.”
Outside the courtroom, several of Bauer’s loved ones sobbed and one woman threw her purse at the wall.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona, which prosecuted the case, said in a statement, “We remain supportive of Agent Bauer’s family in this difficult time, proud of our team for seeking justice, and respectful of the jury’s verdict.” Jurors deliberated for about an hour and 45 minutes before delivering the verdict.
The shooting occurred in a one-room building at a gun range at the Federal Correctional Institution in Phoenix, where Bauer had just finished overseeing standard live-fire pistol qualification exercises. Sixteen IRS criminal investigators, who examine violations of tax, money laundering and other federal laws, had taken part in the pistol qualification and classroom exercises at the complex.
After the session ended, another IRS agent left the building to get his phone and heard a gunshot seconds later. The indictment says the agent saw Brown, a defensive tactics instructor, running out and yelling that he had messed up and shot Bauer, who died during surgery. He had been shot in the upper torso. No one else was in the building at the time.
After the shooting, Brown was taken to a different medical center, where he was diagnosed with an acute stress reaction. While at the hospital, the indictment alleged, Brown repeatedly said out loud, “I am a use of force instructor. I should know better.” FBI Agent Taylor Hannah has been identified in court records as the person who said she heard Brown make that comment, but Brown’s lawyers said their client never said those words.
Prosecutors said Bauer’s death was preventable. They said Brown violated fundamental firearms safety rules, such as always treating a gun as if it’s loaded, keeping its muzzle pointed in a safe direction and refraining from touching its trigger until ready to fire.
Brown pleaded not guilty. His lawyers said Bauer’s death was a terrible accident, that the agents were friends and that Brown came to Bauer’s aid, including by calling 911, forming a chest seal to maintain the function of Bauer’s lungs, and asking other federal officers at the complex for help.
Dr. Kenji Inaba, a medical expert hired on behalf of Brown, said in a report that Bauer would have more likely than not survived his injuries had he been taken to the hospital sooner.
The ambulance that transported Bauer to the hospital left the scene about 25 minutes after the shooting, and it took another 14 minutes to get to the hospital, Inaba said.
Inaba suggested federal agents who had medical training could have transported Bauer to the hospital instead of waiting for an ambulance in a location that doesn’t have a trauma center nearby.
Prosecutors said Bauer may still have died, even with standard care and no delays. They said Bauer was killed by a bullet negligently fired from Brown’s gun, not by medical negligence.