More witnesses in the trial of Michael Robert Moore, charged in a shooting that occurred at the Ace of Clubs Tavern in Hoquiam last September, testified.

Witnesses recounted the scuffle between Moore and Steven Button that ended in Button’s death behind the bar. Witnesses testifying Wednesday set the scene — Moore’s belligerent entrance to the bar, carrying a bottle of liquor, and Button telling him off before following Moore out back.

“​​(Button) pushed (Moore) some more, hit him with the cue stick, tackled him to the ground,” said James Perry, a longtime patron of the bar who was present during the incident. “I remember (Button) saying, if you want to be on video, I’ll put you on video.”

Witnesses stated that while both men went outside with pool cues in hand, Button, a much larger man, rushed Moore, knocking his pool cue to the ground.

“I was trying to understand what was going on, why we were in the situation. (Button) had turned back and went to hit him with the cue stick,” Perry said. “I ran over to where they were tackled on the ground. I saw Button holding himself up with his left arm, on his knees. I was on his left side.”

Testimony from Sgt. David Blundred of the Hoquiam Police Department, the investigating detective, bore that out, identifying photos of Moore after his arrest with marks on his back that could have come being struck by a pool cue.

“Button hit the man, hit him with a pool stick. They were both fighting and ended up tangled on the ground,” said Katelynn Paladin, who, along with her boyfriend, were in their car leaving the bar at the time of the altercation. “They were going back and forth on the ground. I couldn’t tell who was on top and who was on bottom.”

Witnesses saw and heard the shot from a variety of angles.

“The bang and the smoke. And then Mr. Button collapsed. I saw the blood run down his arm,” Perry said. “I went … to roll Mr. Button over to see where we were with the whole situation.”

Paladin and her boyfriend Kenneth Huffman Jr. were heading out when they heard the shot. Huffman said they got clear of the parking lot before calling 911.

“(We) heard the pop and kind of just got to safety,” Huffman testified. “We were driving parallel to the Ace. Still in the parking lot but just leaving.”

Perry said he and Eric Byrd, among others, rolled Button off of Moore from where he’d been shot, and separated Moore from the gun, a .357 revolver that Perry identified from a photo for the court.

“He was in deep shock. Byrd did get the gun away from him,” Perry said. “Moore brought the gun up to the man’s head and I said, he’s dead. He’s dead already.”

Sgt. Rob Verboomen of the Hoquiam Police Department was in the first wave of officers responding to the 8:58 p.m. 911 call.

“The report was shot fired, someone shot at the Ace of Clubs. We responded with lights and sirens,” Verboomen testified. “The report was that the shooter was in the parking lot.”

Verboomen and other HPD officers arriving on scene and approached carefully, unsure if the shooter was still armed. Verboomen closed in on the scene when witnesses said they’d kicked the gun away from Moore, identifying Moore himself in court as the man they detained.

“Approaching the scene, we saw a man on his back bleeding from his head. There was debris in the parking lot. An alcohol bottle. Cellphone. And the firearm, which was a revolver, nearby the body,” Verboomen said. “Blood covered his face. I initially thought he had been shot in the face.”

Verboomen said he found Moore still on top of Button, attempting to do chest compressions.

“He was over his body. He was trying to do compressions,” Verboomen said. “We had to physically remove him from the body because he wanted to stay with him. We put him in handcuffs and escorted him away.”

Verboomen described Moore of smelling strongly of alcohol, but clear of speech.

“When we arrived he smelt of alcohol from his breath, from his person. There was the alcohol container in the parking lot that night,” Verboomen said. “His speech was clear. He was talking. He was making sense.”

Moore was read his rights and taken away, Verboomen said.

“He said he was hit with a pool cue,” Verboomen said. “We saw some injuries on his back consistent with being hit with a pool cue.”

Moore was not combative when detained, Verboomen said.

“It was remorseful, to the point where he didn’t want to leave the body,” Verboomen said. “He didn’t want to leave Mr. Button.”

Sgt. Christian Slater was another of the initial responding officers.

“We had to calm some things down but we were able to get the scene controlled fairly quickly,” Slater said. “At that point we were still trying to ascertain whether the firearm was still in the shooter’s possession or where it was. My primary role at that point was to check on the victim.”

As detective-sergeant, Blundred was notified almost immediately, though off-duty, and got to the scene in about 10 minutes, he said.

“When I get to a scene as the detective, the first thing is to get as much information as possible,” Blundred said. “When you get these types of calls it’s pretty common for Aberdeen and other agencies to also respond.”

A Washington State Patrol trooper who responded to the call stood over the revolver, Blundred said, while others locked down the scene.

‘Mr. Button was in the parking lot. His head was to the southwest. His feet were to the northeast. By his left forearm was a holster,” Blundred said. “There were two blood spots, one where Mr. Button was. There was another spot nearby.”

Responders attempted lifesaving measures on Button, but he was determined dead as Blundred arrived. Blundred identified the revolver used in the shooting, a Smith and Wesson .357 revolver, from its evidence-taped packaging. Only a single round was fired.

“It had a total of five rounds and one spent round, which I refer to as a casing,” Blundred said. “With a revolver, whether the rounds are shot or not, they remain in the cylinder.”

Blundred also identified Moore in photos taken shortly after his arrest, detailing scrapes and injuries to Moore’s back, head, arms and hands. Blundred also described for the jury the photos of the autopsy, carried out by the Thurston County Coroner’s Office. Button has a burn on his right bicep, an entry wound ringed by a burn near his right armpit, and an exit wound between his shoulder blades.

The trial continued on Friday, after The Daily World’s press time.

Contact Senior Reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or mlockett@thedailyworld.com.

Michael S. Lockett / The Daily World The defense and prosecution briefly confer during a trial centered around a shooting death that occurred in Hoquiam last year.