DALLAS (AP) - A U.S. Navy veteran was shot in the leg when an argument that he was no part of turned violent outside an arcade and sports bar in northeast Dallas, police and the victim said.
Carlos Chapa, 42, said he was celebrating the birthdays of several family members at a Dave & Busters venue Sunday afternoon when he was shot. He was treated at a hospital for a gunshot wound to the thigh and allowed to return home Sunday night.
Police said two groups of people had been arguing outside the venue when the shooting happened around 2 p.m.
Chapa said he was not involved in the argument but that he was struck by a stray bullet as he tried to shelter his father from the shooting. The gunman fired at the floor three times, then Chapa felt a burning sensation in his leg and couldn’t move.
“I’m blessed,” said Chapa, who lives in Lewisville. “It hurts, but it could’ve been a billion times worse.”
Chapa, who runs an acupuncture practice in Irving, said he doesn’t believe he was targeted in the shooting.
“Wrong time, wrong place,” said Chapa.
Emiliano Chapa said he strapped his belt around his brother’s thigh and elevated the entire leg to stem the bleeding.
Kirk Wilson was celebrating his daughter’s 10th birthday at the same venue. He said he hid her in a utility closet when he heard the gunshots.
“I was telling her everything is okay. Everything is fine,” Wilson recalled.
Police have arrested a 24-year-old man for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the shooting.
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