The late-night attack happened near W.W. Samuell High School after police say a stranger confronted the victim on North Prairie Creek Road.
DALLAS — A man walking his dog near a Dallas high school was hospitalized after an unfamiliar person confronted him and opened fire late Monday, turning an ordinary neighborhood walk into a police investigation that later led to an arrest.
The shooting happened in the 1900 block of North Prairie Creek Road in the Pleasant Grove area, near W.W. Samuell High School. Dallas police said the victim did not know the person who approached him and investigators believe the attack was unprovoked. Police later arrested 18-year-old David Gabriel Ramirez in connection with the shooting.
Officers were called to the area at 10:48 p.m. and found the victim suffering from a gunshot wound to his leg. Police said he had been outside walking his dog when a stranger approached and made a threatening statement before displaying a handgun.
The victim tried to run, but the gunman fired repeatedly, investigators said. Police later determined the man had been struck four times. Officers recovered 15 shell casings as they processed the scene and searched the surrounding area for evidence.
A neighbor who witnessed part of the incident told reporters that he first heard several gunshots and then heard more. He looked outside and saw flashes associated with the gunfire. The witness also said he sometimes walks in the area near the school around sunset and found the shooting unusual for the location.
The victim was taken to a hospital and remained there when authorities released their latest information. His name has not been made public. The dog that was with him at the time of the shooting was taken to Dallas Animal Services. Police did not report that the animal was injured.
Investigators said officers working around the crime scene noticed Ramirez walking nearby and sweating heavily. An arrest report said he also matched the description of the suspected shooter. Police subsequently arrested him and charged him with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The charge is an allegation, and Ramirez has not been convicted.
The arrest report also contains witness accounts about Ramirez’s behavior before the shooting. Witnesses told police he had been drinking and had become hostile at a home on McGregor Street. They said they temporarily took a handgun from him out of concern before later returning it after he threatened to damage the home. Those statements are part of the police investigation and have not been established as fact in court.
Police have not publicly identified a motive for the shooting or explained what, if anything, preceded the encounter beyond the reported confrontation. Investigators have said the victim and the suspected shooter were not known to each other.
Ramirez was booked into the Dallas County Jail, where no bond had been set at the time of the latest report. The victim remained hospitalized, and Dallas police continued investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
Author note: Last updated September 2, 2026.