Police officer lay in pool of blood to comfort Larry Wellman in last moments

Const. Barry Reynolds remembers listening to theTragically Hip on his drive home, as he wonderedhow he was going to tell his wife he had just watched a man die.

Hours earlier, the father of twogot on the ground and laid in a pool of Larry Wellman's blood so he wouldn't be alone during his last breaths.

Reynolds wasone of the first Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officers on the scene of a shooting at Captain's Quarters Hotel on Oct. 3, 2015.

He took the stand at Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court Friday, offeringa raw and real detailed account of what police officers can face when they answer a call.

• 'I told him I loved him': Widow's emotional last moments with Larry Wellman revealed in court

"One moment I was faced with going into an armed shooter situation, wondering if I'm going home, to holding a man in my arms and watch him take his last breath," Reynolds told the 12-person jury at the Brandon Phillips first-degree murder trial.

'Am I going home tonight?'

Reynolds was parked at the corner of George and Adelaide Streets in downtown St. John's when a call came over the police radio: unknown trouble at Captain's Quarters.

The only thing I knew how to do ... was to comfort him.- Const. Barry Reynolds

As his patrol car got closer, he learned a man had been shot.

"A lot of things were going through my head. Am I going to be shot? Am I going home tonight?" Reynolds said, between deep breaths.

He thought the shooter was still inside.

Reynoldsthought of his wife and two daughters, then braced himself.

"Then I knew in my mind I was ready to accept what was coming," he recalled, crying.

But what he found was Larry Wellmanbleeding out on the ground, having been shot by an armed robber while intervening at the bar.

Reynolds broke down as he recalled a woman, Linda McBay, yelling, "'Do something for him, do something for him.'"

He held Wellman's head in his hands and they looked into each other's eyes, he said.

"I believed there was a slim chance of survival," Reynolds said. "The only thing I knew how to do ... was to comfort him."

That's when the 10-year veteran of the force got on the ground and laid in a pool of Wellman's blood with him.

He watched as his breathing slowed. More and more. Until it stopped.

"My heart just sank."

Officer went into OR with victim

If there was anything learned from the first week of Phillips's trial, it's that the death of Wellman had a long and profound effect on many people, including those who hardly knew him.

Const. Shane Boland, a relatively new officer at the time, arrived on scene shortly after Reynolds.

He too entered Captain's Quarters without knowing if the shooter was still inside.

"I remember seeing a male laying down in a large pool of blood ... it was the most blood I've ever seen in my life," Boland testified.

Boland got in the ambulance with Wellman, who was still alive when paramedics arrived, and rode to St. Clare's Mercy Hospital.

He followed doctors and nurses as they rushed Wellmaninto the operating room.

Boland said he removed his uniformand got into hospital scrubs so he could go in the operating room with Wellman.

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But after surgery, a doctor told Boland there was little chance of survival and that Wellman had been shot in the mid-section.

He took Wellman's clothing and went back to headquarters to bring it to evidence. It was now a homicide case.

"It was a scene I'll never forget. There's no doubt about that."

Defence lawyer Mark Gruchy chose not to question Reynolds, but did ask a few questions of Boland.

"You didn't see what actually happened?" Gruchyput it to Boland.

"No."

The trial is scheduled to continue on Tuesday.

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ReadCBCNL's previous coverage of thetrial:

• Day 1: Brandon Phillips jury selection begins: What you need to know
• Day 2:Jury taking shape for trial of Brandon Phillips, accused in Captain's Quarters killing
• Day 2: Strategic selection: How the jury is chosen for Brandon Phillips trial
• Day 3:Jury, 2 alternates selected for Brandon Phillips 1st-degree murder trial
• Day 4:'Nobody be a f--king hero': Chilling video played at Brandon Phillips trial
• Day 5:'I told him I loved him': Wife's emotional last moments with Larry Wellman revealed in court