Shooting victim showed no vital signs – EMT
An emergency medical technician has described how he performed CPR on a shooting victim as he was rushed to hospital.
Curtis Place told jurors in the Supreme Court that Rickai Swan had no “vital signs” when he and his colleague arrived at the Southampton Rangers Sports Club on the evening of October 23, 2015.
Mr Swan was shot multiple times when he tripped and fell as he tried to flee the club.
Prosecutors say that Shantoine Prinston Burrows opened fire at Mr Swan on the porch of the club and also shot his friend, Damiko Gibbons, who sustained a gunshot wound to the shoulder.
Yesterday, Mr Place told the court that when he arrived at the scene, a black male, whom he did not know, was lying near the entrance of the club.
He confirmed that there was blood on the man’s chest and pants as well as a wound to the back of his head.
“When I arrived there were no vital signs,” said Mr Place.
“He was breathless, and pulse-less and made no movement whatsoever.”
Mr Swan was lifted into the back of the ambulance by Mr Place, a second EMT and a member of the public and driven to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.
On the 15-minute journey to the hospital, Mr Place said that he performed CPR on Mr Swan to “try and get the heart started again”, but told jurors: “There was no response to the CPR as far as heart signs.”
Mr Burrows denies murdering Mr Swan, using a firearm to commit murder, wounding Mr Gibbons with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm and using a firearm to commit that offence. A second defendant, Taj Browne, 22, denies being an accessory after the fact to murder.
He is alleged to have given Mr Burrows a lift after the shooting. The trial continues.
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