SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. ? The lawyer for the California man charged with the attempted murder of an Afghanistan war veteran said his client was under attack at a wild party when gunfire rang out.
Defense attorney Michael Holmes said Wednesday that his 19-year-old client, Ruben Ray Jurado, was a friend of Christopher Sullivan, 22, who was critically wounded Friday night.
Jurado was charged Tuesday with attempted murder and multiple sentencing enhancements for using a firearm in the shooting that critically wounded Sullivan.
Holmes said Jurado was invited to the gathering, and some party guests were drinking heavily and inhaling nitrous oxide.
Holmes said Jurado was attacked and kicked as he tried to leave the party.
Jurado was scheduled to be arraigned by video conference Wednesday afternoon, but that was postponed until Thursday morning when Jurado asked to attend the hearing in person.
Sullivan, a Purple Heart recipient, was home for the holidays when a fight began at a homecoming party over football, authorities said. When Sullivan moved to break it up, gunfire broke out, police said.
Authorities painted a different picture of the evening, saying Jurado, who had played football with Sullivan in high school, began arguing with Sullivan's brother over football teams at the party and then punched him. Sullivan intervened, and Jurado pulled a gun and fired multiple shots, hitting Sullivan in the neck, police said.
Sullivan remained in critical condition Wednesday. His relatives said the gunfire shattered his spine and left him paralyzed from the neck down.
"He's opening his eyes more," his 20-year-old brother, Brandon Sullivan, told The Associated Press. "We're just waiting day by day."
Sullivan was wounded in a suicide bombing attack last year while serving with the military in Afghanistan. He suffered a cracked collarbone and brain damage and had been recovering in Kentucky, where he is stationed, before coming home for the holidays.
Sullivan was a wrestler and football player in high school in San Bernardino, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles. He had nine months to go in the military and then planned to become a firefighter or police officer. He always liked to help people, his brother said.
"Say there was a person at school who never had friends or nothing ? Chris would be the person who would go up to him and try to be his friend. He didn't like people to feel alone," Brandon Sullivan said. "He always had a smile on his face."
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Associated Press writer Kristin M. Hall in Nashville, Tenn., contributed to this report.
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