A man walking his dog late at night in Dallas’s Pleasant Grove area suffered four gunshot wounds after an unfamiliar man allegedly confronted him with a disturbing question and then opened fire, according to a FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth report by Peyton Yager.
The shooting happened shortly before 11 p.m. near North Prairie Creek Road and Bruton Road, across from W.W. Samuell High School, where investigators later returned to search the area for evidence. Police arrested 18-year-old David Gabriel Ramirez a few blocks away and charged him with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The victim survived, and paramedics took him to a hospital, while Dallas Animal Services took his dog into their care.
Victim Says The Gunman Asked If He Wanted To Die
Yager reported that the victim told police he did not know the person who approached him.
According to the victim’s account, the man asked, “Do you want to die today?” before producing a handgun and opening fire as the victim tried to get away.
Cellphone video obtained by FOX 4 showed the aftermath, with the injured man lying on the sidewalk while his dog remained close beside him.
Image Credit: FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth
In the video, the victim could be heard describing gunshot wounds to his foot and calf while responders worked around him.
The scene is especially unsettling because there was no obvious dispute leading up to the shooting. Based on what police and the victim told FOX 4, investigators were treating the attack as apparently unprovoked and involving two people who did not know each other.
A Neighbor Heard More Than A Dozen Shots
An anonymous neighbor told Yager that he initially heard about six gunshots, then opened his blinds and saw what looked like muzzle flashes as additional rounds were fired.
The witness estimated that roughly 10 more shots followed.
Police later recovered 15 shell casings from the scene, according to the report.
The neighbor also recorded video showing the victim being placed onto a stretcher.
As he was taken away, the man could be heard saying goodbye to his dog.
“I love you, girl,” he said.
That brief exchange gives the incident a very different feel from a typical crime report because it captures how suddenly an ordinary late-night walk became a life-threatening emergency.
Police Find Suspect A Few Blocks Away
Dallas officers responding to the shooting began establishing a crime scene and searching the surrounding Pleasant Grove neighborhood.
Yager reported that officers soon noticed Ramirez walking nearby, sweating heavily and appearing out of breath.
Police said he also matched the description of the suspected shooter.
Officers detained Ramirez only a few blocks from where the shooting occurred.
The arrest report cited by FOX 4 added more context about what police believe happened before the attack.
According to witnesses who spoke with investigators, Ramirez had been drinking at a home about a mile away and became “extremely hostile” toward people there.
Those witnesses were reportedly concerned enough about his behavior that they took a handgun away from him.
Witnesses Say The Gun Was Given Back
The account given to investigators became more troubling from there.
Witnesses told police that Ramirez later returned to the home saying someone had tried to rob him.
According to the arrest report, he then threatened to break windows at the house, and the people there gave the firearm back to him.
Police described the gun as a black Glock with an extended magazine.
Officers found no firearm on Ramirez when they arrested him.
That missing weapon became one of the reasons detectives returned to the neighborhood and continued searching for evidence after the arrest.
The decision to return the gun to someone witnesses had already described as extremely hostile is one of the more troubling details in the case. It does not establish what happened afterward on its own, but it gives investigators an important piece of the timeline they were trying to reconstruct.
Detectives Search The Area For The Missing Gun
Yager reported that Dallas detectives went back to the area around W.W. Samuell High School to look for anything Ramirez might have discarded while moving through the neighborhood.
Investigators were specifically interested in finding the firearm because Ramirez did not have one on him when he was detained.
The search covered the same general area where the victim had been shot and where Ramirez was later found.
The anonymous neighbor told FOX 4 that the violence felt especially strange because he sometimes walks near the school around sunset himself.
“I sometimes walk around the school pretty late,” he said, adding that it was “pretty weird for that to happen.”
That reaction captures why apparently random attacks can be especially unsettling for a neighborhood. There is no argument to avoid, no known personal conflict and no clear warning for other people who regularly use the same sidewalks.
Victim Survives As Suspect Faces Felony Charge
The victim remained hospitalized after being struck four times.
FOX 4 did not report that his injuries were fatal, and Dallas police said he survived the shooting.
His dog was taken to Dallas Animal Services while he received treatment.
Officers booked Ramirez into the Dallas County Jail and charged him with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
At the time of Yager’s report, no bond had been set.
The investigation continued as detectives searched for the missing firearm and worked through the witness statements describing Ramirez’s behavior before the shooting.
What Started As A Routine Walk Became A Sudden Attack
The case stands out because the victim appears to have been doing nothing more unusual than walking his dog late at night when he was confronted by a stranger.
According to the evidence described by FOX 4, the alleged shooter asked a bizarre question, fired repeatedly and then ran.
The quick arrest gave investigators a suspect within a short distance of the crime scene, but several important questions remained, including where the gun went and what prompted the attack in the first place.
Yager’s report does not point to any prior connection between Ramirez and the victim, which makes the encounter appear all the more random.
For the man who was shot, the night ended in a hospital instead of at home with his dog, while his pet was taken into temporary care, and police continued searching the neighborhood for the weapon they believed may have been used in the attack.
Leave a Reply