Lagoon Shooter Testifies That Shooting Was in Self Defense

A Foster City man who shot and wounded two men outside a lagoon-front apartment in 2010 said he panicked and fired the gun in self-defense when an argument over noise became violent.

Jesse David Wilson, 41, took the stand in San Mateo County Superior Court this morning, where he is on trial for two counts of attempted murder and five counts of assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the July 9, 2010 shooting.

Wilson became emotional and appeared to be fighting back tears at several moments during his testimony. The defendant said that on the night of the shooting, he heard a group of people laughing and carrying on near the lagoon outside his ground floor unit at the Beach Cove Apartments.

Wilson said that their voices suddenly changed and became "very sharp, like a fight," and he heard a woman scream.

"I had the impression that someone was being attacked," Wilson said.

According to defense attorney William Locke, the mood of the party had changed when a kayak carrying three of the revelers overturned, causing at least one of them to scream. Wilson's neighbor went outside to complain about the noise, and was chased back into his apartment under a barrage of racial slurs, Locke said.

Wilson, who testified that he had previously intervened in physical altercations in San Francisco and London, said he armed himself and went outside to see if someone needed assistance. "I decided to go, to run out and see if someone needed help," Wilson said.

The defendant said that Foster City resident Anthony Cook, a bearded, tattooed man who also lived at the apartment complex, told him to "get the f*** back inside" and began to charge at him. Wilson said he did not recognize the man who rushed him and began punching him in the face while the remaining four members of the group appeared to be charging at him from the side.

Wilson pulled the trigger once, striking Steven Dimond in the back and puncturing his lung, Donnellan said. He pulled the trigger a second time, shooting Cook in the abdomen, according to prosecutors.

"I just wanted them to stop," Wilson said.

Wilson testified that he didn't know if anyone had been shot until later. Cook continued to punch him in the face, Wilson said, and one of the women kicked him in the mouth. Wilson was hospitalized with a broken orbital bone and multiple cuts and bruises on his face and arms.

Both Cook and Dimond have testified that Wilson was belligerent and confrontational when he came out of his apartment, and that he shot them before they charged him in an attempt to get his gun.

Defense testimony is expected to continue on Wednesday. Wilson remains out of custody on $500,000 bail.

-- Bay City News

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