Lawyers for a Canberra man on trial for attempted murder have told a jury he did not mean to kill the man he fired gunshots at, but only meant to scare him.
Connor John Manns, 25, is accused of firing three shots at another man from his car at a shopping complex in Casey on November 21, 2021.
The ACT Supreme Court heard the pair had been feuding over text messages and the social media application Snapchat in the hours prior to the shooting.
The alleged victim, who cannot be named, told the court he had arranged to meet Mr Manns for an early morning fistfight to sort out a dispute, but he did not expect Mr Manns to bring a weapon.
He told the court he was forced to hide behind a tree to avoid being struck by bullets.
In his opening statement, Prosecutor Marcus Dyason told the jury about text messages sent by Mr Manns to the alleged victim and his partner in the lead-up to the shooting, one of which included a photo allegedly showing the accused holding a semi-automatic rifle and pistol.
"I'll do life for this, IDGAF [I don't give a f***]," the text accompanying the photo said, the court heard.
"I'm going to kill the whole lot of them," other texts from Mr Manns read to the jury said.
"This is war…I want to see blood."
Mr Manns pleaded guilty to the charge of using a carriage service to make threats to cause fear and harm, but not guilty to attempted murder and the alternative lesser charge of attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm.
He attempted to plead guilty to a third alternative charge, the lesser offence of intentionally discharging loaded arms at another person, but it was not accepted by the prosecution.
The court heard further text messages from Mr Manns allegedly sent after the shooting, including one which said "I tried to kill him last night" and another which indicated he was "dirty" to have missed three shots aimed at the alleged victim's temple.
Defence barrister James Maher told the court his client: "might not be an angel, but he is not a killer."
He admitted his client firing the shots was "dangerous" and "stupid" but was not intended to kill the man.
"All he was intending to do was scare [the alleged victim]," Mr Maher told the court.
He said the text messages were "bravado" intended to send a message to the alleged victim and his partner to "stop talking shit" about him.
"All he was intending to do was scare [the alleged victim]," Mr Maher told the court.
The trial is expected to continue until at least Monday.
