Driver in Capitol Hill shooting says he feared for his life

SEATTLE — New video and a new perspective of the moment a man drove toward hundreds of protesters.

The driver’s supporters say it proves he was the victim of a mob, forced to defend himself.

A friend of the driver sent the video. She says even as Nikolas Fernandez turned onto 11th Avenue East, someone damaged his vehicle. Then came a mob of people chasing after him.

That’s when a 27-year-old Bothell man tried to stop the car from hitting hundreds of people protesting the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis Police custody.

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Fernandez told Seattle police he reached for his gun and shot Dan Gregory in the shoulder, thinking he was a carjacker.

Fernandez waived his appearance at his bail hearing on Monday. But his public defender told a judge he feared for his life.

“Mr. Fernandez was on his way to work,” said the lawyer, “And got caught going the wrong way down a one-way street, in the chaos and sort of panicked.”

Dan Gregory posted a video from his Harborview Medical Center bed.

“He’s driving fast through the crowd,” Gregory said, describing the scene on Sunday night. “He’s about to plow through the crowd.”

He describes the moment he leapt up to intervene.

“I didn’t think twice about it,” he said. “You’re not going to run into a bunch of people like that. Not in front of me. Not on my watch. I’m happy I’m the only one who got hurt.”

And he seemed to take issue with Fernandez’s version of events.

“It’s unbelievable,” Gregory said. “People are nuts. And then he tried ... I’m not allowed to talk about it too much. Depending on the investigation. But I’m happy nobody else got hurt.”

He says he is also upset about the way Seattle police handled the case but he did not elaborate.

He says had the bullet moved just a few inches, he might have died. Harborview says he was discharged Tuesday afternoon, that he is back home.

He has been told it will likely take about a year for him to fully recover.

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