PORTLAND (AP) – A man who pulled a gun in a crowded supermarket and tried to shoot three employees after claiming to be a government agent will not be held responsible for the resulting charges, a judge ruled.

Superior Court Justice Thomas Delahanty issued the ruling Wednesday on all 11 felony counts against Mark Davis arising from an incident in a Portland Shop ‘n Save in June 2001.

According to testimony, Davis pulled out a .25-caliber semiautomatic, declared he was the treasurer of the United States and tried to shoot Shop ‘n Save workers. The store was shutting down because of a power failure, and Davis became upset when he could not collect his bottle-deposit money.

Davis began arguing with a clerk, became enraged when a manager asked him to leave and pulled out the gun. Davis then pointed it at several people and tried to pull the trigger, police said.

The gun malfunctioned, and no one was hurt.

Davis was held at the Cumberland County Jail until a judge determined he was mentally incompetent to stand trial and transferred him to the Augusta Mental Health Institute.

Davis’ attorney entered a plea arguing that Davis could not be charged with the crime because he was suffering from a mental disease.

Davis thought cartoon characters could talk to him and believed that he had implants in his brain that inserted information, Leblanc said.

Ann Leblanc, a psychologist with the state’s Forensic Service, said it was not until last July that Davis was able to understand his surroundings well enough to stand trial.

According to the state service, one or two criminal defendants are committed each year. The average length of a hospital stay is eight years.

AP-ES-01-29-04 1039EST