Wilmington victim of shooting spree describes attack
The Wilmington businessman shot in the face, police say, by Radee Prince as part of a multi-state shooting spree testified that the attempt stemmed from him rejecting Prince for a job.
But cross-examination by Prince's defense attorney painted a more complicated relationship, revealing the businessman tried to hit the defendant with his truck after Prince supposedly tried to rob him a year before.
Prince is accused of the attempted murder of Jason Baul at his 28th Street Auto Sales after shooting five others, three of them fatally, at his former workplace north of Baltimore on Oct. 18.
The prosecution rested its case Thursday. During that case, Prince's defense has centered as much on why he may have shot Baul as whether he actually shot the man.
On Wednesday, jurors were shown a three-minute video clip of the shooting. A security camera records Baul and another person walking through the main room of the business into a small, back office and closing the door.
Less than two minutes later, a man police identified as Prince is seen walking directly to the back room. He opens the door, gunfire can be heard and a struggle begins.
Seconds later, Prince reappears, adjusting his apparently malfunctioning handgun and picking up a bullet off the ground before returning to the back room.
At times, Baul's feet appear out the door and Prince leans down appearing to aim a shot at him. At one point, Baul manages to close Prince out of the back room as the defendant bangs his shoulder against the door to get back in, periodically firing more rounds inside.
Eventually, Prince can be heard saying "bleed out, bitch" and exits the building, his leg soaked with blood. "Indestructible" by Mary J. Blige can be heard playing in the office throughout the attack.
On Wednesday, Baul entered the courtroom with the bullet that pierced his cheek still lodged near his spine and another stuck near his pelvis. He identified Prince as his assailant.
"I grabbed my face like 'damn, I just got shot,' " Baul told the jury.
He described how he went to the ground, pressed a desk against the door and tried to keep Prince from the room with his feet.
"He just kept trying to shoot me and hit me with the gun," Baul said.
He told the jury he had known Prince since he was 11 and several years ago had turned him down for a job at one of the multiple businesses he owns in North Wilmington.
He said he expected something to happen with Prince.
The two had clashed a year before the shooting at the home of a mutual friend's mother in January 2016. Baul said Prince tried to rob him.
Court records stated Prince "grabbed" and "started to punch" Baul. He also grabbed at the Baul's pockets in an attempt to steal his money, court records state.
"He was trying to go into my pockets," Baul told the jury.
On cross-examination by Michael Heyden, Prince's defense attorney, Baul admitted to exiting the home and using his Chevrolet truck to try to hit Prince outside. Baul said Prince was heading toward his car and he thought he was retrieving something to "do harm."
Baul said he didn't want to hurt or kill Prince.
"I wanted to knock him over," Baul said.
Prince was on the steps of the house and wasn't hit. Prince was charged but the case was dropped in Feb. 2017. Baul was not charged.
Baul insisted the root of the tension between the two was the job rejection and Heyden continued to prod.
Baul denied pulling a gun on Prince at a funeral, though he admitted words were exchanged. He also denied hiring anyone to beat Prince up outside a Wilmington nightclub. He also denied discussing hiring someone kill Prince in the lead up to the shooting.
"I don't believe in using violence to solve problems," Baul said.
Heyden informed the court that Prince plans to present an insanity defense in the weeks leading up to the trial. Heyden is expected to call witnesses in Prince's defense on Monday.
Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.
Prior coverage:
Mass shooting suspect apprehended near Glasgow
Mass shooting suspect: many prior arrests, few convictions
Local mass shooting suspect plans insanity defense; jury trial scheduled for next month
Mass shooter toldvictim to 'bleed out,' according to prosecutors