A man shot while socialising with friends at Somerset Cricket Club yesterday told of seeing the spark of a gun before being hit.

The man, who cannot be identified due to a court order, went with the Somerset Trojans football team to the National Sports Centre on November 11 last year to watch the team compete for the Dudley Eve Cup.

He told the Supreme Court that while he and the team were meant to leave immediately after the game, they were delayed because of reports of gunshots in the area.

“They weren’t really saying much because nobody was sure what was going on,” he said.

He told the jury he did not hear the gunshots but when they left they saw a number of police officers.

As they travelled towards Somerset Cricket Club, he said he noticed a number of officers in several other locations, including Barnes’ Corner and White Hill. The witness said he and the team arrived at the club at about 5.30pm and it was busy with people celebrating the game and the Remembrance Day holiday.

He ate and socialised in the bar area before he and others decided to go out to the club’s front porch, which overlooks Cricket Lane.

“We all went outside to check the scene, see what girls were around,” he said. “I was on the porch for about ten seconds when someone said, ‘Who’s that?’.

“I looked up and saw someone in the trees, someone moving. Somebody in dark clothing. I saw the spark of a gun and I was hit.”

As soon as the shot rang out, he turned to run back inside, but dropped to the ground when he heard more shots.

“I hit the deck,” he said. “I dropped to the floor just as I got inside the cricket club. I got up and I was running for the exit. As I was running I could hear gunshots go off.”

He slipped as he ran, saying that others trying to flee had spilled drinks on the floor and that made it slippery, but he regained his footing and continued through the club and out on to the cricket field. He continued running until he reached the home of a family member.

“I was in a state of panic,” he said. “I had blood gushing down my left arm and running down my fingers.”

The witness was taken by his family to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, where he remained for five days.

He told the court that the gunshot had broken a bone in his arm and left him with some nerve damage.

The witness was one of four people shot at the club that night, but none of the injuries was fatal.

Princeton Shantoine Burrows has denied multiple charges in connection to the incident, including four counts of unlawful shooting, possessing a firearm and possessing ammunition.

Under cross examination by defence lawyer Marc Daniels, the witness said that while he was not associated with any gang, he was aware that some members of a West End gang had been known to hang out at Somerset Cricket Club.

Asked if any gang members were at the club on the afternoon of the shooting, he said he did not know.

The court also heard written statements from the three other victims, all of whom were outside the club when the shots were fired.

Denzel Crockwell wrote that he was at the club to speak to a friend when he heard a loud explosion. He said he ran to the club’s doors, but was slowed by the crowd of people all trying to flee.

“All of a sudden I felt a hot, burning sensation on the left side of my him. That’s when I knew I was shot,” he said.

“Someone pulled me into the club and I dragged myself to a window and fell to the ground in the bar.”

He said he was later told by doctors that the bullet had shattered his pelvis.

Another victim, Lorenzo Dill, said he was outside of the club when he heard five shots. One bullet passed into his back and exited his side.

Gladstone Wade said he was outside talking about football tactics when he heard the shots.

He ducked behind a low wall and stayed there until the incident had ended, but realised when he tried to walk to his car that he had been shot.

He was rushed to hospital by a friend, where doctors discovered he had a fractured femur.

The trial continues.

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