A man shot by Eugene police after calling 911 took the witness stand Monday, Sept. 22, telling jurors he held a gun at the time an officer spotted him because he wanted to keep the weapon away from an intoxicated friend behaving violently.
Edgar T. Rodriguez testified on the first day of a civil trial alleging excessive force, negligence and battery in connection with a 2016 shooting outside his west Eugene apartment.
Rodriguez, now 36, called 911 a few minutes before 1 a.m. on Sept. 10, 2016, when he realized he could not control the physical fighting between a former housemate and the man’s girlfriend, both of whom he had agreed to host despite not knowing the woman and not having seen the man in some three years, he said…