Man Shot by Rittenhouse Changes Story, Says He Wasn’t Pointing Gun at Teenager

Man Shot by Rittenhouse Changes Story, Says He Wasn’t Pointing Gun at Teenager
Gaige Grosskreutz, who was shot by Kyle Rittenhouse, testifies during Rittenhouse's trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wis., on Nov. 8, 2021. (Mark Hertzberg/Pool/Getty Images)
Zachary Stieber
11/12/2021
Updated:
11/12/2021

A man shot by Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin last year now says he was not pointing his gun at the teenager.

Gaige Grosskreutz said under oath that he was pointing a handgun he took with him into Kenosha on Aug. 25, 2020, at Rittenhouse when the teenager shot him.

“It wasn’t until you pointed your gun at him, advanced on him with your gun—now your hand’s down—pointed at him, that he fired, right?” one of Rittenhouse’s lawyers, Corey Chirafisi, asked Grosskreutz in court this week.

“Correct,” Grosskreutz said.

But the Milwaukee man insisted during his first interview after taking the stand that he was actually not pointing his gun at Rittenhouse.

“I do believe that in that photo, given the right narrative, one could suggest that yes, I was pointing my weapon at the defendant. But when you play it as a movie, or look at different stills, my arm was being vaporized as I was allegedly pointing my weapon at the defendant,” Grosskreutz said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Thursday.

“It’s completely inconsistent with the physiology of my wound that he would have shot me while my weapon was pointed at his head,” he added.

Host Michael Strahan noted that Grosskreutz was not under oath before seeking to clarify his remarks.

“So you’re saying that you actually didn’t, you weren’t pointing your gun at him? Is that what you’re saying?” he asked.

“That’s absolutely what I’m saying,” Grosskreutz said.

Mark Richards, Rittenhouse’s lead defense lawyer, declined to comment in an email to The Epoch Times.

Defense attorney Corey Chirafisi cross examines Gaige Grosskreutz, who is shown on the video monitor being shot by Kyle Rittenhouse, during Rittenhouse's trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wis., on Nov. 8, 2021. (Mark Hertzberg/Pool via AP)
Defense attorney Corey Chirafisi cross examines Gaige Grosskreutz, who is shown on the video monitor being shot by Kyle Rittenhouse, during Rittenhouse's trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wis., on Nov. 8, 2021. (Mark Hertzberg/Pool via AP)

Grosskreutz was pressed on his story changing during a later appearance on CNN, with host Anderson Cooper playing the clip that showed the man in court saying he was pointing his gun at Rittenhouse.

“During cross [examination], if there’s a skilled attorney, they’re able to present questions to help support their narrative. That’s their job,” he said. “And with one of the exhibits that attorney Chirafisi had introduced, there’s a photo of me with my gun pointed towards the defendant, either just after or right during [sic] he had shot me in my right arm.”

Grosskreutz alleged that the only way he could have sustained the injury he did “is if I had been shot with my arms up.”

Asked if he had ever pointed his gun at Rittenhouse, Grosskreutz said that it did appear that way in the photograph.

“It certainly looks like it, but never intentionally,” he said. “Following that gunshot, I had no use of my arm.”

Both Grosskreutz and his lawyer also repeated his claim that Rittenhouse re-racked his AR-15 just before shooting the Milwaukee man last year.

Rittenhouse said on the stand this week that the claim wasn’t true, and he was backed by testimony from Kenosha police officer Brittni Bray.