Witness: I was shot five times

A MINISTER WHO was shot five times - and miraculously survived - emotionally testified before a Common Pleas jury Tuesday about the morning a gunman ambushed him.

Michael Vessels, 46, was allegedly targeted because he witnessed a fight among teenage girls outside his then-North Philly home, in which a man, Aki Jones, then got out of a car with a gun and fired it into the air.

Jones later pleaded guilty in federal court to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. But before he did so, and when his case was in the state courts, he allegedly tried to shush Vessels up.

Jones, 39, and Shaheed Williams, 23 - the man accused of shooting Vessels - are on trial in Common Pleas Court on charges of attempted murder and witness intimidation in the Sept. 26, 2011, shooting of Vessels.

Vessels testified Tuesday that on Nov. 22, 2010, he was in his second-floor bedroom, on Turner Street near 24th, when he saw the girls fighting outside and the man with the gun. He called 9-1-1.

The next month, he testified at a preliminary hearing in Family Court. About a week later, Vessels said, his neighbor, Troy Cooper, was "perturbed" and told him Jones, the person locked up for the gun, was a friend.

In the months after, Vessels said, Cooper "was trying to get me to not go to court" on the case.

But, Vessels said, as a preacher, he had his integrity. "You have to tell the truth," he said.

Under questioning by Assistant District Attorney Douglas Rhoads, Vessels said Cooper, at some point, told him he would get $500 to not testify.

"We were a tight-knit block," and neighbors knew he could use some money, Vessels said.

Vessels said he was considering taking the money. "But it never settled with me," he said.

Then, on the evening of Sunday, Sept. 25, 2011, after Vessels returned home from church, he said he was about to enter his home when Cooper came up to him and said he finally got the money from others.

Vessels said he did not take or see the money, but told Cooper he would not take it and would not go to court on the matter.

The next morning, Vessels said he left his house to go meet a friend to take her to a doctor's appointment. But after he walked onto 25th Street, a man "jumped out at me, drew a gun, and said, 'You like to talk,' " Vessels said.

With the gun 6 inches from Vessels' head, the man pulled the trigger and fired.

Vessels put up his left hand in a defensive motion, and somehow "blocked" the bullet, he said. The bullet went in and out of his wrist.

"I said, 'Thank you, Jesus,' " he said. Then the man fired again, and a second bullet went in and out of his stomach, Vessels said.

Vessels said he then "reached" as if he had a weapon, and that made the gunman pause. "When he paused, that was my chance to run," he said.

And run he did. As he ran uphill on 25th, the gunman chased and fired. A bullet whizzed by, Vessels said.

"Then one hit me in the elbow. It felt like my arm blew off. At the same time, I'm saying, 'Thank you, Jesus,' " Vessels said.

"Then he shot me again and it hit me in the back and made me flip or something, and I fell to the ground," he testified.

The gunman caught up, stood over him, and said, " 'You won't talk no more,' and he shot me again," Vessels told the jury.

"It hit me in the neck, and I said, 'Thank you, Jesus.' I said, 'Thank you, Lord,' because I'm on my way home, because God is so good to me," Vessels said, getting emotional with tears.

The gunman ran away, "and I knew my life was slipping away," he said. But then another man came to his rescue.

Vessels identified Williams in court as the man who shot him.

He also tearfully said: "I forgive him, I forgive him."

Two other defendants pleaded guilty before the trial began Monday. Cooper, 44, pleaded to conspiracy to commit aggravated assault. Charles Alexander, 36, who provided the $500, pleaded guilty to witness intimidation.

An investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Philly police and the District Attorney's Office led to the arrests of the four defendants.

On Twitter: @julieshawphilly