Dallas shooting victim reunited with dog
Prairie Creek Road shooting victim reunited with dog
A man shot on Prairie Creek Road on Aug. 31 was reunited with his dog, Bella, after being released from the hospital. FOX 4's Peyton Yager has the story.
DALLAS - The first thought for Joshua Painter was to protect his dog, Bella.
Painted was shot four times while the two were out walking in Pleasant Grove on Aug. 31.
"I dropped, and I rolled and tried to get her up to me," Painter said.
Just before 11 p.m. on Aug. 31, Dallas police said 18-year-old David Gabriel Ramirez opened fire, seemingly at random.
"He said, ‘do you want to die today’? I said, ‘dude, take me off your script’ and I kept walking," Painter said.
Investigators said Ramirez had been drinking and had just left his house about a mile away, extremely hostile and armed with a handgun.
Man shot four times while walking dog in Dallas, police say
Dallas police are searching for a suspect following a late-night shooting that left a man injured in the Pleasant Grove area of Dallas.
Graphic cell phone video from the incident shows Painter bleeding on the side of Prairie Creek Road. Bella, not leaving his side.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Man shot four times while walking dog in North Texas
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Dallas police are searching for a suspect following a late-night shooting that left a man injured in the Pleasant Grove area of Dallas.
Painter and Bella reunited thanks to a stranger
Charlee Croker was just a stranger from Mesquite when she first saw Painter's story.
At first, she thought he was a homeless man with a white pit bull from her neighborhood so she started calling Dallas hospitals. Turns out, he wasn't. It was Painter.
"He was like, can you help me get my dog back? I was hooked. I am a dog mom," Croker said.
Croker picked Painter up from Parkland. Took him to Dallas Animal Shelter to reunite with Bella, and even put him up in a hotel for the weekend.
"I'm so thankful I got my dog back," Painter said. "And a room to rest my neck for a bit and my foot."
What's next remains up in the air. Bella and Painter though, together again.
As for Ramirez, he was arrested the night of the shooting, but has since bonded out.
The Source: Information in this article comes from interviews by Fox 4's Peyton Yager. Information on the initial shooting comes from previous FOX 4 coverage and the Dallas Police Department.