Virginia Beach security officer on trial in shooting death www.privateofficer.com

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Virginia Beach VA Oct 3 2012A nightclub security guard charged with fatally shooting a20-year-old man and injuring another person in a parking lot in May 2011 wastrying to protect others from getting hurt, his attorney argued in CircuitCourt on Tuesday.
Lester Ray Belmar Jr., 29, shot Darrel Eugene Spencer afterhe heard gunshots and turned to see the young man getting out of the back seatof a car and raising a shotgun in the direction of Belmar's fellow securityguards, who were lying on the pavement to avoid gunfire, said Belmar'sattorney, Martin Bullock.
The bullet struck Spencer in the back of the head, killinghim, and injured the vehicle's driver, according to court testimony.
The bench trial for Belmar began Tuesday and is scheduled toconclude Thursday.
Belmar, who is free on a $100,000 bond and now lives in Washington state,pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, malicious wounding andtwo counts of using a firearm in a felony. If convicted, he faces a minimum of18 years and a maximum of 68 years in prison.
The shooting occurred early on May 21, 2011, after Belmarand several other security guards intervened in altercations at Hangar 09, ajet simulator and nightclub off Lynnhaven Parkway where they worked, according to courttestimony. When the club closed, the fights spilled over into a nearby 7-Elevenparking lot. One group knocked a man unconscious, witnesses said. Pepper sprayhad to be used on another group, Belmar told homicide detectives in a recordedinterview played in court.
That's when someone began firing shots from a car fleeingdown Lynnhaven Parkway,the 7-Eleven's manager at the time testified. She saw a man point a shotgun atthe car, she said.
The gunman peppered an uninvolved vehicle nearby with shotand injured its driver, witnesses said. Commonwealth's Attorney Harvey Bryantsaid Spencer fired the shotgun.
But that didn't give Belmar, a private citizen, the right toshoot Spencer, Bryant argued in court. "You're not entitled to killsomebody under those circumstances."