Dallas man survives random shooting at stoplight
A Dallas man is thankful to be alive after he lived through many of his worst nightmares. He claims he was randomly shot at by another driver at a stoplight in far North Dallas on March 15. Now, he's hoping his story can keep it from happening to anyone else.
"He gunned it through the through the light there at Hillcrest and started shooting," James said. Out of privacy, he didn't want to share his last name.
He said it's surreal to think he had a near-death experience while he was stopped at a red light eastbound on Arapaho and Hillcrest on his way to work.
"It was Saturday morning around 5:00 or 5:15 a.m," James said. "I'm drinking my coffee. Just going to work. Suddenly, a car pulls up beside me. I kind of glance side-long and saw a kid looking at me."
He said the next thing he saw was a gun pointed at him.
"Then the light changes. I hear 'pop,' and glass flies, hits me in the face," said James. "I feel something hit me in the chest. I look up and he's driving off. I see a gun out the window with a 30-round clip in it. 'Pop, pop, pop, pop.' I thought five or six shots."
James said thankfully he was not hit, but a piece of shrapnel did hit his chest. He did not engage with the driver at all and remembers the suspect's car being a black Toyota or Honda with blacked-out windows.
He believes this was not road rage, but a random attack.
"I'm just driving to work, drinking a cup of coffee and get shot at, for there wasn't even a reason," James said
Multiple bullet holes are still visible across James' car days later. He said that the bullet that went through his windshield missed him by inches.
"I was very lucky. If it had been coming at any different angle, I would have been hit," said James. "I'm just thankful."
Because the shooting was so random. Criminal experts said this was either a case of possibly mistaken identity or even gang-related.
Private Investigator Jay Armes III is the CEO & Chief Investigator of Armes International Investigative Services LLC based in Dallas, specializing in gang-related crime. He said these types of cases are difficult to solve.
"They are difficult because there is no connection between the shooter and the victim," said Ames. "Somebody somewhere is going to hear about this, and they need to report it because that could have very, very well been anyone's father on his way to work."
Dallas Police confirm they are investigating. James hopes that someone will give police any other information, so no one else gets hurt.
"It could have happened to someone else in my family, my wife, or anyone else. I just want that guy to get caught," said James. "It's just scary it was me this time. It could be anybody. I don't want that to happen to anybody else."
