ST. ANDREWS, New Brunswick (AP) – A New Brunswick man on trial in connection with a gunfight that ended in the torching of a house on Grand Manan told police he climbed to his rooftop and fired his rifle during the incident.

Carter Foster, 25, said he fired his gun at a truck parked in Ronald Ross’s driveway.

A jury heard the videotaped statement Wednesday from Foster, 25, one of five men accused of shooting up and burning the home on Grand Manan Island last summer.

Foster is on trial for possession of a weapon dangerous to the public peace.

Four other Grand Manan men face arson and weapons charges related to a July riot on the island off the coast of Maine that ended with Ross beaten and his house burned.

Ross has denied dealing crack but friends of his said Wednesday they bought crack from another man who regularly sold drugs from Ross’s house.

On the video of Foster – a recording of an interview Foster gave to Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constable Terry Pomeroy on July 31 – Foster admits he climbed to his roof and fired shots at a GMC Yukon parked in Ross’s driveway.

He said he only shot after someone from Ross’s side of the road shot first.

Witnesses who were at Ross’ house also said Wednesday that the first shots came from the Ross side of the street. Ross has said the first shots came from Foster’s side of the street.

Foster said he wasn’t trying to hit anybody with his shots and that at one point he saw a person in his rifle scope and it bothered him and he had trouble breathing after.

The gunfire was part of a chaotic night on Grand Manan.

Witnesses have already testified that a group of 20 to 100 or more people gathered at Foster’s home on Cedar Street on July 21 then moved toward Ross’ house across the road to confront Ross, who they said was a crack dealer.

Foster said the islanders banded together because they heard people from Saint John were coming to Grand Manan to burn some houses.

The group never intended to burn Ross out, he said.

“I’d been threatened,” Foster told Pomeroy during the interview.

“There was a list with 11 names on it of people they were burning out.”

Ross has pleaded not guilty to charges of threatening to kill Foster and his girlfriend and burn their house.

Steven Flagg, of Grand Manan, who said he smokes crack and was a friend of Ross, testified Wednesday that Terry Irvine, of Saint John, has sold crack to him at Ross’ house.

He said Irvine visited Ross regularly this past summer and that it was common knowledge that if you wanted to buy crack on Grand Manan, you bought it at Ross’ house.

Flagg also testified that at one point during the melee he heard Terry Irvine say if the islanders burned them out they’d come back, set up tents and give crack away to kids.

Flagg’s brother, Todd Flagg, also said he’s bought crack from someone named Terry at Ross’ house.

Steven Flagg said Irvine wasn’t the island’s only source of drugs and there are other dealers on the island, some of them locals.

Ross has said he fired 15 shots in the air after his house was shot at first and that he was the only person shooting from his side. He’s facing a charge of possession of a firearm dangerous to the public peace.

The trial was expected to last until next week.

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