A concealed carry holder who was kicked out of an Old Town grocery store’s bar on Sunday afternoon shot another customer who tried to defuse the situation, prosecutors said during a bond court hearing Tuesday. But the licensed gun owner is not charged with shooting the other man, at least not yet.
Instead, prosecutors charged Kirby Buchanan, 51, with misdemeanor counts of carrying a concealed firearm while under the influence and criminal trespass to real property. A CPD spokesperson said the shooting investigation remains active.
Police responded to a call of a person shot behind the Jewel-Osco, 102 West Division, at 4:24 p.m. and found a 32-year-old man with a gunshot wound to his back, according to police.
The store’s bartender told police that she cut off service to one of her regulars and kicked him out, Assistant State’s Attorney Summer Gregory said. Buchanan refused to leave and began arguing with the bartender until another patron stepped in to defuse the situation, Gregory continued.
Buchanan and the other patron, who would later be shot, agreed to take their fight outside the store, and the shooting unfolded minutes later, according to Gregory.
She said the altercation and shooting were captured on surveillance video.
Police arrested Buchanan at his home near the Jewel store about an hour after the shooting.
He has no criminal background, according to prosecutors. An assistant public defender said Buchanan has lived in the same home for 17 years and served in the U.S. Army for 20 years.
Judge Maryam Ahmad set bail at $5,000, meaning Buchanan must pay a $500 deposit to get out of jail. She also ordered him to surrender all guns and his firearm licenses to police and stay away from the Jewel-Osco until his case is resolved.
Buchanan is due back in court on February 8.
Police continue to investigate Sunday’s shooting, but prosecutors have declined to pursue charges in other cases that they believed involved self-defense, “mutual combatants,” and justifiable actions.
