A man admitted grabbing a gun during a fight and shooting a teenager but claimed he pulled the trigger by accident.

The bullet fired by 29-year-old Dwayne Signor hit 18-year-old Shawn Williams in the back, leaving him seriously injured.

Signor is now on trial accused of attempted murder, among other charges, which he denies.

The incident took place at the end of a reggae party at the Royal Artillery Association club in St. George early on April 4.

Giving evidence in his defence yesterday, Signor told the jury he'd just got a codfish breakfast and walked into the bar when he noticed six or seven men involved in a brawl.

"I heard someone say, 'he's got a gun' or 'a gun' or something like that", explained the accused, from St. George's. "I dropped my codfish because when I turned, the gun was aiming towards my knee, and I don't know how many people was fighting over it but there was a lot of people fighting over it."

Signor said the gun was in someone's hand.

"It was aiming towards my knees. I dropped my codfish and tried to grab it out of the person's hand. At the same time they was all trying to pull the gun, pull it, and somehow it ended up in my hands. And when it ended up in my hands I just ran."

Signor said he headed into the corner of a darkened billiards room.

"What were you thinking at this time?" inquired his defence lawyer, Marc Daniels.

"I wasn't thinking to tell you the truth. I would say I was panicking really," replied Signor.

He told the jury he then saw the shadows of three or four people chasing him into the room, although he couldn't make out their faces.

He said he was pointing the gun at the ground but after spinning around, he was "aiming it towards the knee area".

Then, he said: "I just panicked and the trigger went off. That's all I remember."

"What do you mean, the trigger went off?" inquired his lawyer.

"I spun around and all in the same moment I must have pulled the trigger, because I had the gun in my hand," replied Signor.

He explained he heard a shot and saw a person drop to the ground, although he didn't know who.

He'd earlier explained to the jury that he did not know Shawn Williams at that time.

"Did you try to pull the trigger more than once?" asked Mr. Daniels.

"No, not at all," replied Signor.

He said he ran out of the building in Grenadier Lane in a panic, and across Garrison Field to Lily Park.

"I didn't even realise I had it in my hand. I guess I was still in shock, really," he told the court. He said his friends Ronnie Furbert, Darren Hodsoll and Jason Barnett, who had also been in the club, chased after him and caught up with him at Lily Park.

He said he handed over the weapon to Mr. Furbert, at Mr. Furbert's request, and he does not know what happened to it after. Meanwhile, he and Mr. Barnett went to a beach and swam.

"I'm not even sure why, to tell you the truth. It sounded like a safe place at the time," he explained.

Signor was arrested four days later, on April 4. He explained he had been living rough in the interim period because he was too scared to go home.

According to prosecutors, the gun was brought to the club by Khyri Smith-Williams, from Sandys, who got into a fight with Signor's St. George's friends after flashing the weapon at them and becoming argumentative.

Smith-Williams denies bringing the gun to the venue [see separate story]. Signor told the court he did not know Smith-Williams at the time of the incident.

Cross-examining Signor yesterday, prosecutor Robert Welling said he accepts that he never set out to shoot anyone that night. However, he suggested Signor got involved in the scuffle because he wanted to back up his friends from St. George's who were fighting over the gun.

Signor denied knowing who was involved in the fight, saying he did not notice faces but moved towards it on instinct.

"With all those hands on a gun it could have gone off," he explained.

"If what you say is correct, you put yourself in more danger moving towards the gun," pointed out Mr. Welling.

"It was within two feet of me, what do you want me to do?" replied the accused.

Mr. Welling also asked Signor why, after grabbing the gun, he put his finger on the trigger rather than throwing it somewhere out of harm's way. Signor could not say.

"This is not about what I could have done, should have done," he told the prosecutor.

Mr. Welling also disputed his claim that he shot Mr. Williams by accident. He pointed to evidence Mr. Furbert gave last week that Mr. Williams chased Signor to get the gun back, but got into a fight with Signor's friend, Mr. Barnett, in the games room.

"You aimed it at his body as he was fighting your friend Jason," said Mr. Welling.

Signor denied this, and said he did not believe there was a fight.

"And to back up Jason, you shot out at Shawn, didn't you?" pressed Mr. Welling.

"No, not at all," replied Signor, who was the last witness in the case.

Lawyers will be involved in legal arguments today, but are expected to deliver their closing speeches on Monday.