PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Capt. Bryan Hawkins, of the Providence Fire Department, testified Wednesday that shooting victim Jamal Cruz was conscious and alert, but scared and in pain in the back of an ambulance just after 2:30 a.m. Aug. 26.
Cruz, he said, became anxious and kept taking an oxygen mask off. "He felt it very suffocating," Hawkins said.
Hawkins said he could not recall a detective questioning Cruz in the ambulance about who shot him, but said he does not focus on police when caring for people.
"I can't confirm or deny it," he said. Det. Shawn Maxwell testified Tuesday about questioning Cruz in the ambulance.
Cruz fell unconscious as rescue arrived at Rhode Island Hospital, he said. Cruz later died.
Hawkins took the stand in the trial of Terrel Barros, a 24-year-old New Bedford man who police say fatally shot Cruz and wounded another man outside Monet Lounge nightclub.