Judge declines to change bond for man accused of running toward Highlands bar with rifle

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A judge declined to lower the bond today for a man accused of running toward a packed Highlands bar with a rifle earlier this month.

Carmon Tussey faced Jefferson District Judge Anne Haynie for a virtual bond hearing Tuesday morning.

After hearing arguments from both sides, Judge Haynie decided to keep Tussey's $150,000 bond, saying the incident could have been much worse.

Tussey, 25, is accused of running with a gun and full magazine toward a crowded O'Shea's bar in Louisville's Highlands neighborhood on June 5.

Surveillance cameras and police body cameras captured the whole thing.

The Louisville Metro Police Department says a bystander grabbed Tussey then officers arrested him.

In court Tuesday, Judge Haynie said it could have ended in a mass shooting at the bar, making the bargoers and Tussey another statistic.

That was right after Tussey's attorney and the assistant County attorney argued over the $150,000 bond.

"That bond was set by virtue of the press, rather than by virtue of the actual charges here -- which, again, four misdemeanors and a class D felony," said Timothy Denison, Tussey's defense attorney.

But Assistant County Attorney Richard Elder disagreed.

"What we have here is a narrowly avoided mass shooting incident," he said. "So yes, he is charged with misdemeanors and a class D felony, but not because of anything he did, but because someone grabbed him before he could do anything worse."

Tussey's attorney said he knows the charges are serious and says his client has a PTSD problem. He asked the judge to keep the bond at $150,000, but allow the suspect to post 10 percent of that and place him on home incarceration.

The judge declined, and Tussey's bond will stay at $150,000 cash. The case will be turned over to the grand jury next month.

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