BREVARD COUNTY, Fla.,None — A Florida Fish and Wildlife officer, who was shot six times allegedly by a man he tried to pull over, took the stand in a Brevard County courtroom on Monday. Christopher Eddy faces life in prison if he’s convicted of attempted murder in the 2009 shooting.
Officer Vann Streety said he tried to pull over 25-year-old Eddy two years ago on Satellite Boulevard in west Cocoa. Eddy was arrested after he admitted to the shooting.
Streety took the stand and described how he was shot in both shoulders, his right hand, left arm and his backside.
Streety stated that initially he didn't feel any pain, just the force of the gunfire. Streety told the jury that he was just trying to survive.
"I heard a shot ring out and I had no idea where that shot had hit. I just knew that I had my hand on my gun and I was trying to draw my gun and defend myself and the craziest thing, I couldn't figure out why but I couldn't get my gun out my holster," Streety described to the court.
Streety described in detail the gunfight that could have killed him.
Streety said he stopped Eddy in July of 2009 in an area of west Cocoa known for illegal dumping.
Streety also said that he discovered that Eddy had a warrant for his arrest, and when he tried to cuff him, Eddy pulled out his gun.
"The next thing I see is him raise that gun. Again, I'm looking straight down the barrel," Streety said.
The first shot tore through his shooting hand and disabled Streety's gun. All he could do was run and he recounted each of the six gunshots he took.
"I hear the sound of the gun discharge and I feel a bullet strike me in the back," he said.
Eventually, he ducked into some brush.
"If you're going to kill me, you're going to have to do that by following me into the woods," Streety said.
Eddy's defense attorneys said the officer had no reason to stop Eddy who opened fire after he said he was struck once by Streety's baton and saw him reach for his gun.
"Christopher Eddy acted to protect himself from the attack by Officer Streety," said Eddy's lawyer.
"I felt like my freedom was being violated,” said Eddy back in 2009. "If I wanted to kill him I could have, but I shot him in the vest on purpose."
Eddy's lawyers said he was acting in self defense against an officer using excessive force.
The trial is expected to last through the end of the week.