Lone survivor shot by Kyle Rittenhouse at Kenosha protests says he thought he "was going to die"
Kenosha, Wisconsin — A paramedic who was shot by Kyle Rittenhouse at a police brutality protest in August 2020 testified Monday about his tense confrontation with the teenager before taking a bullet in the arm. Jurors watched footage of the moment Rittenhouse shot Gaige Grosskreutz at close range with an AR-15 style weapon.
"What was going through your mind at this particular instant?" prosecutor Thomas Binger asked.
"That I was going to die," Grosskreutz said. He said that he lost 90% of his bicep.
Grosskreutz, a professionally trained medic, treated nearly a dozen protestors that night. He said he heard gunshots and ran toward them. "I thought the defendant was an active shooter," he said in court Monday.
For the first time, the jury was shown a drone video of when Rittenhouse shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum.
A crowd chased and confronted Rittenhouse as he fled that scene, where Rittenhouse then shot and killed another protester, Anthony Huber, before wounding Grosskreutz. Rittenhouse claims he was acting in self-defense.
His attorney, Corey Chirafisi, questioned Grosskreutz's actions leading to the shooting. "You were standing three to five feet away from him. it wasn't until you advanced on him with your hands down pointing the gun at him that he fired, right?"
Joe Tamburino, a defense attorney who isn't connected to the case, said both sides are leaning heavily on Grosskreutz's testimony. "When you have a witness on the stand who almost died, they can be very powerful witnesses on either side."
The prosecution has said they will rest their case on Tuesday. The defense has indicated Rittenhouse may take the stand himself and that could be in the next few days.
Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, was charged as an adult with two counts of first-degree homicide and one count of attempted homicide. He also faces charges of recklessly endangering the safety of two other victims, possessing a weapon while under the age of 18 and violating curfew.
Rittenhouse has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Clare Hymes contributed reporting.