Cedar Hill Jogger Shares Story Of Being Shot By Attempted Robber
CEDAR HILL (CBSDFW.COM) - A Cedar Hill man out for a morning walk Tuesday came face to face with a gunman, who shot him twice in an attempted robbery.
James Rathbun was in the 300 block of Trees Drive around 5:40 a.m., when surveillance video shows a stranger casually strolling in his direction.
"Hey, good morning," he remembers telling the man, with a friendly wave.
Rathbun was wearing earbuds and couldn't understand the man's response.
"He said, 'Give me your wallet.' But I was thinking he said, 'Give me some water.' So I said, 'I just have coffee.' So, then he slaps me and I'm like, wait a minute…" Rathbun recalled.
Rathbun said he told the man he wasn't carrying a wallet, only to be slapped again. This time, he struck back with a stainless steel tumbler.
"I took my coffee cup and swing at him again. Get into a little altercation and on my way to the ground I hear a shot," said Rathbun.
One bullet hit Rathbun's shoulder and travelled across his back. The other became lodged in a weighted vest he was wearing, as part of his training for an obstacle race.
Rathbun said a detective told him the shot to his back could have been a fatal one.
"He said that would have been a kidney or a liver shot. Good thing I wore the vest this morning," he said.
Video shows the thief running away, empty handed and likely covered in coffee.
Anyone with information on the suspect can call Cedar Hill Police Department at 972-291-5181.