A teenager who attended a Christchurch birthday party that turned deadly didn't think the gun that killed Connor Whitehead was loaded.
Whitehead, 16, was gunned down at the Heaphy Place property on November 5, 2021.
Daniel Sparks and Joshua Smith are charged with murdering Whitehead and have both pleaded not guilty.
A person, with name suppression, who was at the party is giving evidence at the High Court trial in Christchurch.
They said they went with friends, and although they did not know whose birthday it was, they thought it would be a good chance to catch up with mates from primary and intermediate.
Whitehead was a “pretty good mate” and the pair talked when they arrived.
There was a fight outside, which is “just what happens at every party, to be honest”, and people went to see what was happening.
Soon after two men pulled up in a car, and one of the men was waving around a shotgun, the court heard.
“I was a bit cautious at first … I didn’t think it was loaded … I thought they just tried to scare us.”
They said they could tell one of the men was angry, and a partygoer was heard yelling “shoot me, shoot me”.
There was the sound of a gunshot and the witness said they hid behind a tree with others, before a second gun went off.
“Definitely wasn’t ready for that to happen.
“I heard someone yell out ‘Connor’s dead’ … people thought he was having a seizure but he wasn’t moving … it was a pretty scary thing to see.”
The two men then fled the scene.
The Crown alleges Sparks and Smith received a call for help from Sparks' son, and the pair arrived with loaded firearms, including a Stevens shotgun and a Mossberg shotgun.
Earlier in the trial, the mother hosting the birthday party said it turned aggressive when a group of uninvited guests, including gang members, showed up.
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