A man allegedly targeted in a ride-by shooting yesterday described how he had made a desperate sprint to escape his attackers.

While Levon Thomas escaped without injury, he told the court he heard one shot fly “across his head” as he ran for safety.

Devon Hewey, 25, Cervio Cox, 30, both from Warwick, and Julian Washington, 24, from Pembroke, all deny two charges of attempted murder and using a firearm outside Shine’s nightclub in the early hours of March 24, 2012.

Neither of the men allegedly targeted — Mr Thomas and Darren Thompson — were shot in the incident, which sparked a high-speed chase to the Botanical Gardens, where officers found a motorcycle with its engine and muffler still warm and the keys in the ignition.

While only two men were on the motorcycle used in the shooting, the Crown has said that all three defendants have been forensically linked to the shooting and can be found guilty of the crime.

Taking the stand yesterday wearing Bermuda Regiment camouflage, Mr Thomas told the court that in the evening before the shooting he and a group of friends had visited the St David’s Cricket Club for a party, leaving at around 2am after the event was shut down.

The group of six then travelled to Shine’s nightclub, where they remained for about an hour before deciding to leave.

He said there was a crowd of people outside the club, and as he went to cross the street he saw a police car driving towards Middle Road. He also noticed two men standing next to a parked bike near the traffic lights.

“I saw two gentlemen at the stop lights outside of Island Trading but I really didn’t look at them too good.

“I just glazed them. I took a quick look and focused on what I was doing, which was crossing the street.

“Once the police car drove by, that’s when I proceeded to cross the road. This is when the bike started to come towards the group, the bike that the two men had stopped at the stoplight.

“They must have got on the bike and started to drive as if into Hamilton but they were on the wrong side of the street.”

As the motorcycle approached, Mr Thomas said he saw the pillion passenger appeared to have a shiny object and, as he watched, the passenger pulled a handgun from his pocket.

“He held it out and tried to fire,” Mr Thomas said. “It was pointed in the direction of me and my friends. It seemed like he was trying to fire.

“He pulled it down from the aiming position and hit it a couple of times and then he aimed it again.”

Mr Thomas said he started to run diagonally across the street towards a set of stairs which lead to Front Street.

As he did so, he said the motorcycle made a u-turn and he heard a pair of loud explosions behind him.

“I was just running,” he said. “There was a third explosion from behind me again. I saw the gentleman when he shot the window. I was looking over my shoulder. He shot high.”

He then heard a fourth explosion. “I heard that one really, really good. It came across my head. I can’t make the noise with my mouth but it was like hitting a tin can.”

Mr Thomas said he then reached the stairs and sprinted down to Front Street, running as far as the Cabinet Building before slowing to a walk.

He continued as far as Cafe Cairo looking for transportation before walking towards a lunch wagon. There, he saw an unmarked police car and spoke to officers about what happened.

He told the court that he couldn’t recall what the men on the motorcycle looked like, saying: “I was just focused on the gun and trying to get out of the area.”

However, in cross examination, he acknowledged that he was able to give police some details of the gunman and the rider on the day of the incident.

He told police than of the two men, the rider of the vehicle had a darker complexion and that the gunman did not appear to be wearing gloves.