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A San Antonio man accused of attempted capital murder of a police officer, acting as his own defense attorney, rarely cross-examined witnesses at his trial Thursday, including the officer who shot him.
Darnell Rogers was 22 when he was shot in the upper torso and critically wounded Sept. 18, 2015, after he allegedly pointed a gun at two deputy constables responding to a call about a shooting in the 3800 block of East Southcross Boulevard on the Southeast Side.
Cpl. Fabian Gonzalez, a deputy with the Bexar County Constable Precinct 4 office, became emotional while on the witness stand Thursday as he described the fear he felt as he and his partner chased Rogers, who he said fired his gun at them as he fled between buildings of an apartment complex.
“I’m trying to catch up to him, to stop him, but when I heard the gunshot, I thought he shot at my partner,” Gonzalez said, his voice breaking.
Gonzalez said Rogers stopped, turned and faced the deputies and intentionally pointed the gun at them and fired.
“I was thinking, oh (expletive), he doesn’t want to run anymore, he wants to fight,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said he fired three shots at Rogers.
“After the first shot, he turned and dropped,” the deputy said.
A second fleeing suspect got away. Although the deputies were fitted with body cameras, they forgot to turn them on during the chaos, according to testimony.
Rogers, paralyzed from the waist down and in a wheelchair, is acting as his own defense counsel. Testimony is expected to continue Friday in 227th state District Court.
ezavala@express-news.net
Twitter: @elizabeth2863
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