Still unclear as to what happened. Never owned a Colt but assume it works like a Smith other than rotating backwards. Artical says grip was two handed suggesting DA mode, but regardless of SA or DA it should have advanced the cylinder one chamber. So he had it on a live round and advanced it to an empty chamber?
Yes, apparently so.
I wonder if he might have done this unintentionally (made an error in the placement of the empty chamber), and then found a reason to claim it was intentional.
I do not know the man. He recovered quite well. The holster appears to be a Bianchi, which have a reputation for quality. The thumb break on a proper Bianchi holster would prevent a revolver from being cocked in the holster.
The article accurately reports what was recorded in the official records recovered with the Freedom of information act request.