CHARLESTON, W.Va – The trial is underway for one of the men charged in connection with a 2024 shooting near the Shawnee Sports Complex in Dunbar that left families fleeing in fear.

Kaden Bowman appeared before Kanawha County Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers on Monday, charged with wanton endangerment involving a firearm after he allegedly was part of a drive-by shooting on Smoot Avenue in Dunbar.

During opening statements, Kanawha County assistant prosecuting attorney Madison Tuck argued that Bowman agreed to meet at an apartment complex near the park to confront the other two defendants charged in the case, Antonio Jacobs and Zion Clark, both of whom pleaded guilty earlier this year.

“These shots were fired by Kaden Bowman, who stands before you on trial today, and by two others, Zion Clark and Antonio Jacobs. None of the three men lived at this apartment complex, but they decided that it was a good location to meet up and have a shootout over girls,” she said.

Tuck emphasized the terror caused at the Shawnee complex, which hosted both a baseball and a soccer tournament that day. She said the facility was thrown into chaos after the shots were heard.

“Shots rang out, and coaches, parents, and children ran in all directions and attempted to frantically find each other and get to safety, taking refuge in dugouts, jumping over fences, and scrambling for the parking lot,” she said.

In his opening statement, defense attorney Trent Redman painted a different picture of the events. He argued that Bowman was the target of the drive-by, perpetrated by Jacobs, Clark, and two other men, who drove throughout the Charleston area looking for Bowman.

“They went hunting for Mr. Bowman. Once these felons found their prey, they began shooting,” he said.

Redman maintained that in shooting back, Bowman, who Redman said holds a concealed carry permit, acted in self-defense and fired significantly fewer shots than the others involved.

“Not only was he not the aggressor, but the force by which he chose to respond was equal to being shot at,” he said.

Redman further argued that the shooting took place in a nearby neighborhood and the state placed undue focus on its proximity to the Shawnee Sports Complex.

“This was in a neighborhood, but the state would rather characterize this as creating this fear and mayhem over at the park, as opposed to this neighborhood where there had been a shooting less than three months prior,” he said.

Following the opening statements, the state called Melanie Samms, the parent of an eight-year-old boy playing baseball at the Shawnee complex that day. She testified that after people heard the gunshots, the park was thrown into chaos.

“Everybody was screaming, running, screaming for their kids that were just off playing,” she said.

She also testified she no longer likes going to the Shawnee Sports Complex, her son asks her about the safety of baseball fields they go to, and he had a negative reaction to fireworks on the Fourth of July.

When cross-examined, Samms said she did not see the shooters or where the shots came from.

Kacie Womack, the manager on duty at Shawnee that day, testified next. She said as she approached the dumpsters near Smoot Avenue, she heard the gunfire and called 911.

The recording of that call was played in court, and Womack later stated that the facility sustained significant damage as a result of the panic.

“Everyone freaked out and caused mass chaos, and a lot of fences and stuff got torn down. The complex was a mess,” she said.

During the 911 call, Womack identified a gray BMW SUV as the vehicle that the shots came from and, during cross-examination, stated she did not see any of the people in the car, did not see Bowman in the area, and did not see the shots when they were fired.

Chester Spriggs, a resident of the apartment complex where the shooting took place, took the stand next. He testified to hearing the shots from his kitchen and going to a window where he saw a man with a rifle getting into the back of a gray car with two other people inside.

“I finally could see someone get in the backseat. He had a rifle on his left side, and he was trying to pull it in,” he said.

Spriggs said the following day, he found a large hole in the brick exterior of his home that he believed came from a bullet.

“When I checked the next day, I found a hole on the side of my apartment, like that, that was bigger than a golf ball,” he said.

Spriggs also testified, under cross-examination, that he had previously met Bowman when the defendant would come to visit friends at the apartment complex and that he had spoken to him in passing just a few days before.

Both parties intend to bring forth more witnesses and evidence in the coming days.

Jacobs and Clark were both sentenced earlier this year and each received maximum sentences.