The former James City County policeman who shot his sergeant two years ago reached a plea bargain with prosecutors today that spares him jail time, after his victim said he did not want to appear in a trial.
Michael T. Rusk, 27, told us he and his wife, whom he met after shooting Sgt. Christopher Gibson, are expecting a baby girl in January and “I couldn’t take a chance, no matter how small, of putting her in a position to raise our child without me, or leaving my baby girl without a father. That is the ONLY reason I am taking this plea.”
Rusk accused his sergeant of trying to assault him sexually. He said he had complained to supervisors about Gibson’s behavior toward him without success. Rusk was fired after the shooting, Gibson retired.
Prosecutor Bernard J. McGhee told Judge William Shaw III that witnesses had seen Rusk and Gibson drinking in the Brickhouse Tavern the night of the shooting and s…