On August 17, 2023, Patrick Bauer, a 47-year-old male, died in Phoenix, Arizona. A beloved husband and father, he was born in Chicago, Illinois, and moved to Arizona at the age of eight. He was a veteran of the Arizona Air National Guard, having retired after more than 22 years of service, and had served for over 14 years as an IRS Special Agent, a role in which he lost his life in the line of duty.
The incident occurred at a shooting range at the Federal Correctional Institute in
Phoenix, where Bauer and other IRS agents were participating in departmental firearms training. Following the conclusion of a live-fire pistol qualification exercise that Bauer was overseeing, he was inadvertently shot by another agent. He was transported to HonorHealth Deer Valley Medical Center where he succumbed to his wounds.
The agent responsible for the shooting was identified as Larry Edward Brown Jr., who was also an IRS agent and a defensive tactics instructor. After the shooting, Brown was heard yelling that he had messed up and shot Bauer. He was subsequently charged with involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors argued that Brown handled his firearm with reckless disregard for human life. Brown's defense maintained that the shooting was a terrible accident and that the two agents were friends.
In February 2025, a jury acquitted Larry Edward Brown Jr. of the involuntary manslaughter charge. The verdict was met with distress by Bauer's family, who expressed that they felt justice had not been served. Following the verdict, Brown expressed his condolences to the Bauer family, stating that Pat was a great man, a mentor, and like a brother to him. The investigation into the shooting was overseen by the FBI and the results were turned over to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona.
