The shooting scene in June 2020

It has been more than two years since Nikolas Fernandez opened fire in the middle of a Black Lives Matter protest at 11th and Pine. His trial is now scheduled for January 2023.

Fernandez is charged with first degree assault for the shooting that wounded protester Dan Gregory and set off panic in the tightly packed crowd outside the East Precinct in the early days of the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest.

A year ago, CHS reported here on Gregory’s hopes for a Carnegie Medal in recognition of his bravery that day as he tried to disarm the brother of an East Precinct officer who had driven into the demonstration crowd. Last November, Fernandez’s trial was set to begin in February 2022 after delays caused by the by the assignment of a new prosecutor and the “large number of outstanding interviews” required to try the case.

The delays in the case have continued with a series of continuances that have continued to push the start of the trial out.

CHS reported live on the June 7, 2020 shooting at 11th and Pine and examined the police report and court documents describing the shooting witnessed by dozens and caught on video. According to witnesses, the driver veered toward the protest, was chased, and pulled out a handgun. Gregory said he was trying to disarm the man when he was shot.

Police say after the shooting, Fernandez passed through an SPD barrier and yelled at officers, “I just had to shoot somebody, they tried to jack my car.”

According to SPD, Fernandez told police his vehicle stalled and wouldn’t start after the shooting so he “exited the car with his gun in his hand yelling at people to get back away from him.” Fernandez told police he ran through the line and immediately surrendered.

“Fernandez said his brother works here at this precinct, and he does not want to do anything to shame him,” the SPD report on the incident noted.

Fernandez, 31 at the time of the shooting, was charged with one count of first degree assault and claimed self-defense as he pleaded not guilty. He has been free on $150,000 bail since.

The Fernandez trial is part of the few remaining criminal cases from the CHOP period as expensive civil cases continue to play out involving families seeking compensation for loved ones who lost their lives in gun violence around the protests and businesses and real estate owners looking to recoup losses from the city.

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