Christoper Bradley charged after accidentally firing a volley, Claire Tidwell, age 6

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) –

The security officer accused of accidentally firing on a little girl in front of a McDonald's vehicle during the theft at a cell phone store appeared in court on Wednesday.

Christopher Bradley, 28, is charged with aggravated assault, causing serious bodily harm to 6-year-old Claire Tidwell, who was shot and wounded.

RELATED: A 6-year-old girl was hit by a robbery at Houston's T-Mobile store

Claire is recovering after a three-hour operation on Tuesday to remove that stray bullet from her left leg.

The shooting occurred in the T-Mobile store of the Airline 5500 block north of Houston. According to the authorities, Bradley, who was not in uniform, saw Earnest Hudson, 18, stealing an iPhone.

Hudson ran out, setting off the alarm. Bradley confronted him outside the store. During the confrontation, he pointed his gun at Hudson, who took off.

Bradley pursued him, firing "an unknown number of times," said the prosecutor. Bradley followed Hudson to the right side of McDonald's driving service, where Claire and her family were at the time. Claire was sitting in the back seat of her family's vehicle.

Prosecutors said Bradley "continued to miss his target," but he eventually hit Hudson on several occasions.

Hudson was taken to the hospital, where he should survive. However, Bradley also hit Claire while she was in the car.

She had a broken femur, which required surgery.

Claire took her first steps shortly after the procedure.

She can still have serious nerve damage.

"It's going to be expensive and long-term – it's something that's not going to just get out of the hospital and it's back to normal," Claire's aunt Jessica Montanez told ABC13.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help pay Claire's expenses and recovery.

Claire's family says she's fine and tells them, "It's okay."

As for Bradley, a judge set his obligation at $ 30,000.

Bradley's mother told Eyewitness News that even though she was sorry, Claire thought her son had done what was needed.

Follow Courtney Fischer on Facebook and Twitter.