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The surviving victim, police and bar staff testified Tuesday at the preliminary hearings for the two 18-year-olds charged in the January deadly college bar shooting in Lawrence.
The shooting took place at The Hawk, a popular college bar located just east of the University of Kansas, around 1:45 a.m. on Jan. 17. Aidan Knowles, 18, was killed, and Brady Clark, who is now 17 years old but was 16 at the time of the shooting, was critically injured.
On Feb. 5, charges against defendants Caiden Clem and Daitron Daniels Strickland were amended.
Murder charges against Clem were dropped. He now faces four counts of felony aggravated assault and one count of criminal possession of a weapon by a felon.
Daniels Strickland's charges were elevated to include a first-degree murder charge and two first-degree attempted murder charges. He also faces one count of criminal possession of a weapon by a felon and one count of battery.
The hearings did not clarify why the amendments were made.
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While Clem and Daniels Strickland sat at the defense table together Tuesday, they were represented by separate legal counsel.
Clark testified Tuesday he doesn't remember much about the night of the shooting other than feeling a sharp pain in his stomach after he was shot. He said he was shot in the chest, and while he underwent surgery to remove a bullet, bullet fragments still remain in his body.
He testified he went to The Hawk with three of his friends, including Knowles, and that they met up with another group of people at the bar. Clark said he knew Clem from a previous relationship his cousin had with the defendant.
Multiple employees of The Hawk testified Tuesday. They described an altercation between bar staff and the defendants and their group at 1:45 a.m., which is the typical closing time for the bar.
One employee testified he was scared for his life when a gun was pressed to the back of his head during the altercation.
Bar staff testified they were able to get the group outside of the bar, where the shooting followed shortly after.
People across the courtroom gasped as video evidence showed the shooting, which ultimately left Knowles dead and Clark critically injured.
"I thought I was going to get shot," one witness testified on Tuesday.
The witness, who is a minor, testified he was beside Clark and Knowles when the shooting took place.
RELATED | KU students react to deadly Lawrence bar shooting
A crime scene technician testified Knowles suffered multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the head.
About two hours into the hearing, Clem, under the advice of his legal counsel, waived his rights to the hearing. Based on the presented evidence, Judge Amy Hanley determined there was enough probable cause to continue his case. She set his arraignment for March 5.
An immunity hearing that was set for Tuesday for Daniels Strickland was pushed back to March 5.
Both defendants will appear in court in person at 9 a.m. on March 5.
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