Details emerge in Bluffdale neighborhood shooting; motive unclear

WEST JORDAN — It's been just over one year since a miscommunication between neighbors escalated into a shooting, leaving one man a paraplegic and one charged with attempted murder — and the details revealed in court Monday made the events surrounding the incident no more clear now than they were then.

Monday marked the first day in the trial of Reginald George Campos, 44, who has been charged with attempted murder with injury, a first-degree felony, and two counts of aggravated assault, both third-degree felonies, in the shooting of his neighbor David Serbeck. Prosecutor Nathan Evershed said the "peaceful, typical" summer night became a "nightmare" as a result of the "unjustified rage" of Campos.

"The defendant ... said he saw a gun and said he heard Dave rack the gun and 'then he let him have it,' " Evershed said. "Dave's gun is six to seven feet away from him, and the safety is in the 'on' position, preventing anyone from racking the gun ... I will ask that you hold (Campos) accountable."

Defense attorney Rebecca Skordas told the jury that Campos is an accountant and family man, who felt he was being threatened by someone who had already frightened his daughter, leading him to take action.

"I don't suspect you will all agree with what Reggie Campos did," Skordas said, "but this case isn't about gun control, it's about self-defense. You will have to put yourself in his shoes, in the shoes of a father dealing with hysterical girls who believe they are being followed."

Skordas told the jury that Campos fired only after he heard the "unmistakable" sound of Serbeck racking the gun. But Evershed told the jury that Serbeck placed his gun on the ground and kicked it away from his body while Campos watched.

Campos sat attentively in a suit as Serbeck recounted hearing the "gurgling" sound of blood entering his lungs and flowing from his chest and using his own finger to stop the bleeding. He said he had the presence of mind to instruct those around him on how to offer him aid and to direct police to the gun to prove "I did everything I was supposed to do" in terms of showing that the gun was not within his reach and that the safety lock was on.