It has been one of the more lingering questions surrounding the shooting of Sean Bell: How can anyone sustain 19 gunshot wounds and live to tell about it?

The day after Joseph Guzman had his thorny day in court in the trial of three detectives charged in Mr. Bell’s death, he became the center of attention during the testimony of the surgeon who kept him alive on Nov. 25, 2006.

The surgeon, Dr. Albert Cooper, was attending in the trauma unit of Mary Immaculate Hospital that morning when the call came in announcing two patients with multiple gunshot wounds were en route.

Dr. Cooper, the medical team and hospital staff members convened in the trauma bay and waited, with little idea of what had just transpired. Mr. Bell, Mr. Guzman and Trent Benefield had just left Mr. Bell’s bachelor party at Club Kalua in Jamaica, Queens, when officers investigating the club, believing the men were armed, followed them. In the confrontation that followed, five officers opened fire with 50 shots, killing Mr. Bell and wounding Mr. Benefield and Mr. Guzman.



Detectives Michael Oliver and Gescard F. Isnora face charges of first- and second-degree manslaughter and first-degree assault. Detective Marc Cooper faces two misdemeanor charges of reckless endangerment. All three are on trial before Justice Arthur J. Cooperman, who is hearing the case in State Supreme Court in Queens without a jury.

Dr. Cooper was the prosecutor’s last and, coincidentally, 50th witness in the so-called “50-shot case.” He was called to establish the nature of the injuries upon which the assault charges are based. Prosecutors rested their case on Wednesday, and the defense is expected to call its first witness, Officer Michael Carey, who fired three shots and was not charged, on Thursday.

Mr. Guzman and Mr. Benefield were rushed by ambulance to Mary Immaculate, and a quick look told Dr. Cooper the priorities of the situation, he said. Mr. Benefield had been shot in the calves and in one buttock and was crying out in pain, but Mr. Guzman was in a much more dire condition.

“He was telling me in somewhat of a mumbling voice that he should live and I should help him to live,” Dr. Cooper testified on Wednesday about Mr. Guzman, who has been described by some as a medical marvel for being able to walk again.

“He appeared to be confused and somewhat combative,” Dr. Cooper added, “which was indicative he was probably in severe pain.”

The doctors stabilized him with an air tube for his breathing, and began a head-to-toe inspection of Mr. Guzman’s body, finding 19 bullet holes, including several in his legs, his abdomen, at least one in his chest and one at his cheek bone in his face, which appeared superficial, a glancing shot.

“My clinical suspicion is he had some lung trauma,” Dr. Cooper said. “We immediately placed a chest tube which yielded blood, a lot of blood.”

Then, more stressful signs: a catheter also yielded blood, suggesting internal injuries to his bladder or urinary system.

“His blood pressure’s stable, his airway’s stable, so I think I have a little time to do further investigation,” Dr. Cooper said.

CAT scans and X-rays on Mr. Guzman showed bullets and bullet damage near a kidney and spillage from holes shot through his intestines.

“We made sure blood was available” and gave Mr. Guzman a tetanus shot, Dr. Cooper testified. Then, he began to operate with an incision to the patient’s belly. “Upon entering his abdominal cavity, we noted blood in his abdominal cavity,” the doctor continued.

Doctors packed dressing in all four corners of the cavity, then pulled it away, looking for blood and spillage from his digestive tract. Dr. Cooper found both intestinal content and fecal matter from Mr. Guzman’s colon in the cavity, potentially lethal.

“It has very dangerous bacteria,” Dr. Cooper said, adding that it could have led to a deadly infection.

The team quickly stapled the holes to the intestines and colon, removing one piece that was “shredded,” he said. They sealed up the cavity and sent Mr. Guzman to the intensive care unit, he said.