Close Call For Off-Duty Firefighter Shot At While Driving
SUNNYVALE, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Tony Aguilar knows the bullet now lodged in his car's trunk lid could have hit just a little higher.
"Another two inches and that could have been into my backseat or, you know, the back of my head," Aguilar said.
The Dallas firefighter found a second bullet inside his rear tire.
"When I rolled the tire around like this… you could hear, you could feel something rolling around inside."
He was off duty, driving his personal vehicle through a residential neighborhood on the 200 block of Tripp Road in Sunnyvale to pick up a fellow firefighter and head to the Rangers game Tuesday, when he says a maroon Lexus raced up behind him.
"He got up behind me, right on my bumper. I hit my brakes one time, and immediately I heard four rounds," he said.
Aguilar says the Lexus veered off road into the grass and pulled up along the passenger side of his car, before backing off, and then speeding past him in the left hand lane.
He says a second vehicle, a small black SUV was directly behind it and appeared to be chasing the Lexus.
Aguilar said he instinctively ducked, after hearing the gunfire, and couldn't tell which driver fired the shots.
He's grateful, though, no one was injured.
"Happened in the middle of the day in a populated area, I feel like this is a… these are individuals who are not afraid," he said.
As a firefighter, he's used to facing danger on the job.
This time, though, it came out of nowhere, leaving him feeling fortunate to have survived.
"I feel extremely lucky to be standing here," he said. "It could all end. It could all end like that in an instant."
The Dallas County Sheriff's Office is asking neighbors near the scene of the shooting along Samuell Park to check security cameras for any video taken Tuesday between 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tuesday that may show the suspect vehicles.
