THE front seat passenger in a car driven by murdered Carrickfergus man Geordie Gilmore yesterday described the aftermath of the fatal shooting as "chaotic."
Mr Gilmore (44) died from a catastrophic brain injury after his Vauxhall Insignia was targeted in a gun attack in the Woodburn area of the Co Antrim town last March.
Three men are currently standing trial for murdering Mr Gilmore and attempting to murder his two passengers.
Denying the offences are David McMaw (30) from Starbog Road in Larne, his brother Darren McMaw (33) from Kilgreel Road in Carrick and 36-year-old Brian McLean, from Valetta Park in Newtownards.
Giving evidence at Belfast Crown Court, a witness said the incident in which his friend was shot and killed left him traumatised.
During the second week of the non-jury trial, Mr Gilmore Senior's front seat passenger described himself as a friend of the Gilmore family.
He confirmed he and others has spent the morning of the murder at Laganside Court to support a friend who had been arrested.
The witness said as they drove back to the Woodburn estate, he saw McMaw and McClean at Cherry Walk, where he saw McMaw "smirking."
"Immediately after, I seen David McMaw slightly crouched down behind a wall in the entryway," he said.
"He was pulling down a balaclava over his face...I noticed in his right hand he had a handgun. That's when I proceeded to shout 'gun, gun, gun.'"
The witness said Mr Gilmore "started to accelerate" after he shouted the warning.
Telling the court the Insignia then crashed into the wall of a house, the witness said he initially had difficulty getting out of the vehicle, and feared "they were going to try and kill me too."
After exiting the vehicle, he called 999 and was on with the emergency services for 13 minutes.
When asked by Mr Collum what was taking place at the scene whilst waiting for the police and ambulance, the witness said: "It was chaos".
"I could hear kids screaming, women were screaming."
Under cross-examination by a barrister representing David McMaw, the witness was asked if he was aware of a feud in Carrick. He replied: "It was being branded a feud, but I wouldn't call it that."
When Ms McDermott asked if it could be termed " a disagreement going on for a number of months", he agreed.
He was then asked why he didn't tell police at the scene, or during the 999 call, who he believed the gunman was. He replied that at the time he was in a state of shock, adding: "It's not every day somebody tries to shoot and kill you. It's not every day you just witnessed a man sitting beside you being shot."
