CINCINNATI – Paralyzed and hooked up to a ventilator, David Chandler was two weeks from death when police arrived at his hospital room to question him about the person who shot him. They wanted to know if he could identify a suspect, and they had a photo to show him.

Chandler was unable to communicate except with his eyes as he lay in bed attached to myriad tubes and with a brace around his neck. His eyes opened barely more than a slit at times; he was instructed to blink three times for yes and twice for no. One detective quizzed him, and another videotaped his responses.

Chandler didn't respond with blinks to every question in the 17-minute video, and there were solo blinks. But triple blinks came in response to repeated questions asking if he knew the shooter and whether the person in the photo was the culprit.