DALLAS — A Dallas man is recovering after a stranger shot him multiple times on a running trail.
35-year-old Terrance Williams, a Dallas fashion designer, said he was on his daily run southeast of Oak Cliff along Lazy River Drive when a man approached him.
“He said to me, ‘This is gonna be the last day that you see me.' I didn’t know what it meant, so I just said ‘Okay,’ kept walking on the trail… didn’t think much of it,” Williams said.
Williams said as he turned around to return home, the man emerged from a bush wearing a mask.
“That’s when he pulled out the gun. I screamed, tried to run, and he fired the first shot that hit me,” Williams said. “I just laid there and pretended to be dead as I watched him walk away. I was in shock.”
According to Williams, the suspect returned.
“He walked towards me, stood over me, held the gun at my head and said ‘You’re not dead, don’t pretend to be dead… but you’re dead now.’ Then he fired two shots at my head. I don’t know if it was the grace of God, a guardian angel or bad aim, but both shots missed my head,” Williams said.
Dallas police confirmed the shooting occurred on Monday, Nov. 18. Officers responded at 8:55 a.m. Williams was shot in his leg. The first bullet shattered his femur, and he now has a metal plate on his lower body. He also suffered a gunshot wound to his shoulder.
“I was thinking a million things. 'I don’t wanna die out here, I don’t wanna be paralyzed,'” Williams said.
Williams called 911 and spent five days recovering in the hospital. He has been too afraid to return to his neighborhood.
“My life is changed forever,” Williams said.
Dallas police confirmed they’re investigating the shooting, but have not released any suspect information or made an arrest.
Williams told WFAA he remembers seeing the same man in the same area the day before when the man asked him for directions on the trail. Williams has jogged along the same trail for five years and said he has always felt safe.
“Every day I’m like running through my head, why did this happen to me?” Williams said.
Williams, who has a large following on TikTok and in the creator community, launched a GoFundMe to cover expenses while he’s unable to work.
He said the shooting left him fearing for his life and he’s struggling with trauma.
“I was this close to death, it really changes a person. My life is changed forever. One decision to go on a run changed the trajectory of my life. That weighs heavy on me.” Williams said. “Just praying that police catch him.”
The shooting has left him with a renewed sense of purpose, and he looks forward to walking again.