Anjol Tajuan Lewis entered a guilty plea on a felony count of assault with a weapon causing bodily injury during an Oct. 16 hearing in connection with the Nov. 6, 2022 shooting at The Do Bar.

Lewis was 21 and an airman assigned to Malmstrom Air Force Base at the time of the incident.

He was charged in 2022 with felony counts of assault with a weapon (bodily injury); a felony count of assault with a weapon (reasonable apprehension) and a felony count of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.

On Oct. 7, he signed a plea agreement, in the courtroom with his lawyer, to plead guilty a felony count of assault with a weapon and the prosecution will dismiss the other two charges.

Airman charged for shooting at The Do Bar [2022]

The prosecution doesn’t make a sentencing recommendation in the agreement, but will be able to call witnesses at sentencing, which is not yet scheduled.

During the Oct. 16 hearing, Lewis said he discharged a firearm at a person, with the bullet striking him and causing injury.

Judge John Kutzman said he wanted more information from Lewis during the hearing and to know whether self defense applied in this case.

Sam Harris, Lewis’ defense attorney, said that he didn’t believe self defense applied in this case but asked Lewis questions to establish a more detailed factual record for the court.

Lewis said that there had been a fight between his friend and others at the bar and that he was trying to break it up when he was struck.

Lewis said that he wasn’t close to the other people involved when he fired the gun at them.

Lewis fired another round at another person involved who was backing away, but didn’t hit him with a bullet, according to his testimony during the Oct. 16 hearing.

Kutzman said sometimes in situations like this, the person who shoots might have a self defense argument and he wanted to be sure Lewis understood he was giving up his right to ask a jury to consider that at trial.

In accepting Lewis’ plea, Kutzman said that he was satisfied Lewis understood he was taking the plea as part of a strategy to control his risk of a worse outcome should a jury find him guilty on the multiple counts he was facing.

Since the prosecution isn’t making a sentencing recommendation, Kutzman said that could be an advantage for Lewis as only his defense attorney would be making such recommendations to the court.

Lewis is no longer in the Air Force, according to the Cascade County Attorney’s Office and is living in Pennsylvania, according to his defense attorney, Sam Harris.

Kutzman allowed Lewis to appear by Zoom for his change of plea hearing, but wants him to be physically present in court for sentencing, which hasn’t yet been scheduled, but usually takes six to eight weeks after a guilty plea is entered.

In 2022, the Great Falls Police Department responded to The Do Bar just after midnight on Nov. 6 for a report of a male with a gunshot wound to the chest, according to court documents.

GFPD investigating Nov. 6 shooting at The Do Bar

Bar staff directed officers inside the breezeway at the front door where a shirtless man was lying on the floor.

Officers observed two holes on the victim’s left tricep that appeared to be consistent with a through and through bullet wound, as well as a large hole in his chest, according to the court documents.

During the investigation, GFPD officers reviewed The Do Bar’s security footage and saw Lewis along with a man identified as Elijah Dwumfour entering the bar. The victim and another man were already inside and through interviews, officers learned that the victim’s friend had a conversation with Lewis and Dwumfour that lead to an altercation in the parking lot, according to court documents.

During the altercation, Lewis was observed jogging to his vehicle, while the other three men were fighting. Bar security was seen breaking up the altercation and it appeared that Lewis was attempting to help break up the fight when Dwumfour punched the victim and the victim’s friend punches Lewis, who then brandished a firearm and fired two rounds that hit the victim, then a third round that missed the victim’s friend, according to court documents.

GFPD officers located shell casings in the parking lot and one in the outer wall of the bar. During a search, officers found a firearm in Lewis’ vehicle, according to court documents.

Lewis was identified as a member of the U.S. Air Force assigned to Malmstrom Air Force Base and the AF Office of Special Investigations determined he had deleted text messages pertaining to the incident from his phone before he turned it over to investigators, according to court documents.

Dwumfour was not a military member but a dependent at the time, according to the county attorney’s office.