A lawyer was caught on video pulling a gun on his ex-girlfriend at a Texas bar and allegedly fired three shots before customers pinned him down.
Gavin Rush, 41, was then released just two days later on a $40,000 bond despite facing a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon involving family violence.
Rush, who according to his LinkedIn page works on ‘sexual assault, embryo destruction and fertility center misconduct, complex commercial litigation, civil rights actions, FINRA arbitrations, and financial services disputes’ only had to post 10 percent of that, or $4,000.
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The low bond was set despite Rush having been previously charged in 2017 with assault/family violence against a different woman, though the case was eventually dismissed.
The incident took place at around 11.30am on Saturday, November 26 at the Anderson Mill Pub in Austin.
Rush’s ex-girlfriend, who has not been identified, works at the bar and he went there to confront her, as she was apparently not speaking to him. A surveillance video, posted to Twitter by a local councilmember named Mackenzie Kelly, shows him placing a leather satchel at the top of the bar.
Rush’s ex continued to refuse to speak to him when he arrived at the bar, according to a police affidavit.
He then pulled out a pistol and pointed it at her, a red dot from a laser sight pointing straight at her chest and firing, just missing her.
The affidavit says that Rush fired at least three times before being pinned, with one shot hitting a bar mirror behind where the ex-girlfriend was standing. One of the customers who pinned Rush told KVUE that he even attempted to shoot himself in the head but failed when they got between him and the trigger.
Two customers went up to tackle Rush and kept him pinned to the ground until police could get there.
One of them told local news after: ‘We’re all just lucky. That could have gone down so differently than it did. Thank God.’
Rush’s profile page has been wiped from the law firm – Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane & Conway – where he works.
They said in a statement: ‘Gavin Rush no longer works at the firm. We do not tolerate hatred or violence of any kind. Our thoughts are with the victims who experienced a significant trauma that day.’
In the video, he can be seen walking up to the bar and placing a satchel down in front of him. He appears to speak for a moment, then pulls a handgun out of the satchel and takes aim at a woman who Austin police say is his ex-girlfriend, KEYE reported.
But before he can fire, a man sitting on a stool beside him lunges and his shots go wild. As they struggle, a second patron rushes into the fray and helps wrestle the attorney to the ground.
Gavin Rush, an Austin lawyer, was arrested on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon following the Nov. 26 incident, court records show.
However, he was released 48 hours later after paying bail, news outlets report, outraging some in the community, including Austin City Council member Mackenzie Kelly who shared the video on social media.
“This attorney belongs behind bars, pending a lengthy jury of his peers,” Kelly said. “I’m deeply disturbed watching this video and committed to a safe city.”
Rush’s bond was set at $40,000, records show. In Texas, bail is typically 10% of the total bond, or $4,000 in this case.
Other community leaders are also speaking out, saying they are disturbed that Rush was released from custody so quickly and easily.
“This particular case seems to be one where the courts have failed this victim,” Thomas Villarreal, head of the Austin Police Association, told KTBC.
Rush and the woman split up over a month ago but he had continued pursuing her, wanting to get back together, police told KTBC. She wasn’t interested and stopped responding to him.
Leading up to the attack, he began sending text messages threatening violence against her and her new romantic interest, the outlet reported.
“Every time I watch that video, I just want to throw up, you know,” one of the men who tackled Rush told KVUE. He and the second patron requested to remain anonymous.
Rush fired three shots, one of which nearly hit him in the head, the bar patron said, adding he’s suffered hearing damage to his left ear.
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