An alleged gunman insisted yesterday that he did not carry out shooting incident near his home.

Zachary Fox, 22, told the Supreme Court that he had been a drug dealer and a gang member, but was not a murderer.

Mr Fox said: “I do not shoot at people. I sell drugs. I’m not a killer.”

Prosecutors have alleged that Mr Fox shot at Richard Steede near the corner of Happy Valley Road and Curving Avenue in Pembroke.

But Mr Fox has maintained he was at home in his bedroom at the time of the attack.

He told the court the back door of his family home led into his bedroom and that there was a “little lane” nearby that people used.

Mr Fox agreed his home was close to the crime scene and it would take a minute or less to travel between the two.

He added his house was also close to Belvin’s Variety store, but he avoided the shop because his brother was shot and killed there in January 2013.

Mr Fox said: “I really don’t like going back there. It brings back a lot of memories.”

Mr Steede was shot at, but escaped uninjured, on November 28, 2018.

Mr Fox told the court was not a gang member until after he was sent overseas by the Department of Family and Child Services when he was 14, although he had associated with members.

He said: “I grew up right there, but I wouldn’t say I was a member.”

Mr Fox accepted that he had been seen in photographs “throwing up” gang signs with members of a gang.

He added that when he came back to the island in 2017 he would see friends in the gang, but did not consider himself a member until early 2018.

Mr Fox said: “It was really after I lost my job and started selling drugs again.”

He agreed that he was loyal to some members of the gang, and that if one member of the gang got into a fight, others would step forward to help.

But he denied that he had anything to do with the shooting.

Mr Fox was also questioned about an incident on October 22, 2018 where several shots were fired into his bedroom.

He told the court that bullets were fired through his bedroom window.

A chest of drawers was damaged and rounds punched through a wall and into the living room.

Mr Fox said the day after the shooting he cleaned up broken glass, threw away punctured cans of bug spray and cleaned up splinters of wood from the drawers.

But Mr Fox said he did not change his bedsheets or do anything to clean up any dust in the room.

He added he never made a statement to the police about the shooting.

Mr Fox said: “I just didn’t know who it was.”

He told the court that he knew Mr Steede from when he was young – well enough to know his face, but not well enough that they would talk to each other.

Mr Fox has denied charges that he attempted to murder Mr Steede and the use a firearm to commit the offence.

He has also denied an alternative charge that he shot at Mr Steede with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

The trial continues.

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