Ian Cranston, who is charged with second-degree murder for killing Barry Washington Jr., testified in court Wednesday, the first time he has spoken publicly about the high-profile shooting outside the Capitol Bar in Bend last year.

“I shot him to stop the threat,” Cranston said on the witness stand in Deschutes County Circuit Court, noting that he feared severe injury on Sept. 19, 2021.

Cranston, 28, of Redmond, has said he shot Washington in self-defense during a fight that began after Washington complimented Cranston’s fiancee, Allison Butler. A 12-person jury will decide if he was justified under state law.

Kevin Sali, Cranston’s defense attorney, took the opportunity to demonstrate for the jury that Cranston was reacting to a moment in which he thought Washington showed no sign of leaving and presented an imminent threat. He asked Cranston if he felt it was necessary to fire a single shot to stop Washington during the fight.

Cranston said yes.

“When you fired that single shot at Barry Washington, was it your conscious objective to kill him?” Sali asked in direct examination.

“No it was not,” Cranston said.

But prosecutors seized on this moment to demonstrate for jurors that Cranston did not take a variety of alternative actions during the fight, including calling the police or walking away from the fight. Instead, Deschutes County Deputy District Attorney J. Michael Swart pointed out, his first impulse was to reach for his gun.

Cranston acknowledged that was true.

“You could have just as easily walked away, correct?” Swart said during cross examination.

“I didn’t think it was an option,” Cranston said.

“You didn’t think it was an option to be the bigger person and turn and walk away?” Swart said.

“No,” Cranston said.

When Washington approached Butler and complimented her looks, Cranston said he told him politely that he would “appreciate” Washington moving along. He recalled Butler saying she was taken. He said he told Washington that Butler wasn’t interested in him. He said Washington “basically refused to leave.”

At that point, the situation “got heated,” he said. Cranston acknowledged that profanity was being used by different people there, including himself. He said Washington then began saying he was from California and began making what Cranston thought were gang signs. Washington’s family and prosecutors have said the 22-year-old was never part of a gang.

Cranston testified he told Washington: “I don’t care about your gang, get the ‘f— away from us.”

Cranston said people with him outside the bar began shouting. He said he hadn’t threatened Washington and saw no sign that Washington would hit him. Then, Washington punched him in the face twice, leaving his head throbbing, ears ringing and vision fuzzy, he testified. He said he doesn’t recall either punch.

“I came to against a brick wall with a man a head taller than me standing over me,” he testified.

At the time, Cranston said he believed Washington had hit Butler — which he did not — and that he couldn’t leave her. Almost immediately after being hit, Cranston pulled the gun from the holster on the small of his back, he told the court.

“I wasn’t planning on using it,” he said. “I was just prepared to.”

At one point, Cranston said he raised the gun while Washington raised his hand and then briefly put it down. By pulling out his gun, Cranston said he hoped Washington would go away. He testified that Washington made eye contact with him and then looked down at the gun that he was holding at his side.

“Did he give any sign at all that he was deterred when he saw you were holding a firearm?” Sali asked.

“I would almost argue that it gave him fire,” Cranston said in court.

Cranston said he feared another punch would bring a serious injury. He testified that he did not believe he would stand a chance fighting off Washington, who is larger than him. So, after holding the gun for roughly 30 seconds, Cranston fired one shot into Washington’s torso. He said he aimed there because it was the biggest target.

He said he asked Washington if he hit him.

“It happened so fast that I wasn’t sure if I missed and I scared him,” Cranston said.

“Are you telling us now that your intention was just to scare him?” Swart asked.

“No, my intention was to shoot him,” Cranston said.

After he shot Washington, Cranston testified, he began applying pressure on the wound. He said he yelled for someone to call 911.

“I didn’t want him to die,” he testified through tears.

In cross examination, Swart pointed out that Cranston had undergone training for the permit that allowed him to legally carry a concealed weapon. The training encouraged him not to mix alcohol and firearms.

Swart also pointed to testimony from Tyler Smith, Cranston’s friend and co-worker, who said he does not bring his firearm with him when he’s out drinking.

Throughout the trial, attorneys have established Cranston’s interest in guns.

He competed in rifle competitions and was in gun clubs at Oregon City High School, where he grew up. He would bring his gun hiking with his girlfriend and take her shooting out in the desert. He worked as a machinist for Nosler, a bullet and weapons manufacturing company. He testified that he owned a hunting rifle, an over-under shotgun, a .22-caliber handgun, a black powder rifle and a .22-caliber bolt-action rifle. He also bought two more guns for his girlfriend, which they kept in their home.

Cranston testified that he often carried his gun with him for safety. “You never know what will happen or when,” he said.

But Swart questioned if Cranston was being responsible with the deadly weapon. He asked if Cranston would agree that “it would have been the responsible thing for you to do on that night to have left your handgun at home, to not take your handgun out when you decided to go drink?”

“I take my handgun with me most places,” Cranston said. “I didn’t think much of it … I would say I was being responsible with my firearm.”

“You were being responsible with your firearm even though you had four drinks that evening?” Swart asked.

“Yes,” Cranston said.