Austin protester Garrett Foster was shot three times, witnesses testify in murder trial

The jury in the trial of Daniel Perry, who is accused in the shooting death of Austin protester Garrett Foster, heard Thursday for the first time about the extent of Foster's wounds.

Witness Niko Daisy, who has EMT training and was a participant in the 2020 march during which Foster was killed, said that after the shooting he found Foster lying on his back on the street.

"My first action was to check for a pulse," said Daisy. "There was no pulse."

Daisy then said he and a police officer who had arrived cut off Foster's clothes and found two bullet wounds in his abdomen and one in a pectoral muscle.

Daisy said he didn't witness the shooting but after it happened he saw Perry's car speeding down the street toward him. Daisy said he shot at the car three times.

"I had a split-second to make a decision, and the car posed an unknown threat to myself and others," he said. Daisy said he later talked to police about shooting at the car but was released after the interview.

Witnesses: Austin protester Garrett Foster did not raise rifle toward Uber driver who killed him

On the night of July 25, 2020, Perry, an Army sergeant working as an Uber driver, was driving on Fourth Street and turned onto Congress Avenue, where a Black Lives Matter crowd was marching. Perry stopped and several protesters approached his car, including Foster, police have said. Protesters have said they feared they were being attacked by someone in a car. Defense lawyers have said 28-year-old Foster raised his AK-47 rifle at Perry, and Perry, 37, fired in self-defense.

Many witnesses have said there were a half-dozen to a dozen people carrying firearms in the march. They also have said the crowd was angry after Perry drove into them, surrounding his car and banging on it.

Witness Haven Trahan testified Thursday that he saw Foster walk in "big strides" up to Perry's car after it had stopped on Congress Avenue. Foster had his rifle barrel pointed to the ground when he leaned toward the car window, Trahan testified. He said Foster then yelled at Perry to get out of the car or keep moving.

Perry's car window immediately rolled down and Perry's arm came out the window, Trahan said. He said Perry aimed a revolver at Foster and then shot him three times.

Witness Brandon Keeton, who participated in the march, testified Thursday that he saw Foster standing with a group of about six or seven people about 3 feet from the driver's side door of Perry's car before the shooting.

More: Lawyers have differing views on what really happened when Austin protester Garrett Foster was killed

Keeton, who was standing in front of Perry's car before the shooting, said he could see Perry inside the car.

"A moment passed where it seemed the driver was looking into the group of people who had approached the driver's side door," said Keeton.

"I saw him (Perry) reach over onto his right side and lift what I saw to be the silhouette of a handgun. As he moved that handgun to point it at the group of people by the driver's side door, the car window was rolling down. And then I saw and heard three shots fired," Keeton said. He said he dove for cover and heard two shots after that.

Keeton said he could clearly see the gap between where Foster was standing with his group and Perry's car because the gap was backlit by other cars' headlights. He said he never saw Foster raise his weapon. "I never saw the barrel of a rifle," Keeton said.

Defense lawyer Clint Broden asked Keeton if he saw Foster the "second" before the shooting. Keeton said he did not.

Another witness, Lyric Costley, said he also saw Perry inside the car before the shooting.

Was it self-defense or murder? Trial in death of Austin protester Garrett Foster begins.

"He was inside reacting at having people hitting his car and being surrounded," said Costley.

"Could you see his face?" prosecutor Efrain De La Fuente asked Costley. Costley said he could. "His expression …anger was the best I could use to describe that," Costley said. "It wasn't fear."

Broden said that Costley told police after the shooting that he saw Foster point his rifle at Perry. Broden also said Costley then told a grand jury that he didn't know whether or not Foster pointed a rifle at Perry. Costley said Thursday during the trial that he "firmly believed" that Foster did not point a rifle at Perry.

"From my position behind him, his body language wasn't in a position in which someone was shouldering a weapon to fire it," said Costley.

A forensic data analyst for the Travis County district attorney's office, Stephanie Dyess, testified late Wednesday afternoon about messages she had retrieved that Perry had sent to a friend on social media in June 2020. One of the messages that Perry sent said he might be able to "kill a few people on my way to work."

"They are rioting outside my apartment complex," his message said.

The friend responded saying, "Can you legally do so?" Perry replied saying, "If they attack me or try to pull me out of my car then yes."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin protester Garrett Foster shot three times, witnesses testify