RALEIGH — A state court has ordered the reinstatement of a highway patrolman more than seven years after his dismissal for threatening to kill himself with his service pistol.

The N.C. Court of Appeals Tuesday ruled in favor of Sgt. Wade Bryan Bulloch, who was fired for unacceptable personal conduct. According to records, Bulloch got into a physical altercation with his girlfriend while drinking at a 2004 Christmas Party and later placed his state-issued handgun to his temple before firing a round into the floor.

In court, an attorney for Bullock said the trooper has bipolar disorder and his doctor changed his medication shortly before the incident.

The appeals judges upheld an earlier ruling that Bullock's superiors at the patrol failed to consider adequately consider his medical history before firing him.