Scary: Ex-Texas A&M WR randomly hacks to death a jogger on Dallas' White Rock Trail

As someone born and raised in Dallas, that's pretty scary. It says the victim is an unidentified guy who appears to be between the ages of 25 and 30. I'm going to text my HS buddy just to be sure it's not him as he runs there at times.

And this was a man. I was thinking we should have a thread or article asking runners if they feel safe when they run. As a man, I never worried too much about running at night even in Washington DC but I think I'd be nervous as a woman in many cities.

This is was in daylight and involved a male. Can you imagine the horror or being attacked by a huge football player who just 2 or 3 years ago had 3 catches in a game against #1 Alabama?

So people of letsrun.com, do you feel safe when you run? What say you?

Note: We have been deleting comments on this thread trying to turn this into a discussion of crime rates by race. We don't want that discussion on this thread. Other posts along those lines will be deleted.

Yes, I feel totally safe when I run.

I feel safe when I run. I run at night in a major city. I avoid the areas where vagrancy or loitering may be occurring, e.g. underpasses and steer clear of isolated trails which are obscured from the road.

I also keep my eyes and ears open, no cell phone or ear buds on me. That being said, it sounds like this runner didn't do anything to put themselves at risk. The area where this crime occurred looks a bit isolated in retrospect, but not dangerous by any means. Senseless crime.

I was in Dallas a week before and was staying in a hotel just across 75 from where this happened. I thought about going for a run on the White Rock Trail, but decided to drive down to the Katy Trail because it has lights. My concern was tripping on uneven concrete as I was doing a workout on the run. I never thought for a second that there was even a possibility of getting attacked. I have run the White Rock Trail a number of times when in Dallas for business. I have always felt 100% safe out there. This was just a freak incident by a very disturbed individual who will never see the outside of a prison cell for the rest of his life.

There are similar hike and bike trails where I live. There has been some concern amongst runners and walkers about a couple of bodies found near the trail over the past few years. They were all homeless people (the trail is very close to downtown). No one knows whether the incidents were random or whether it is believed that the same person did it. No runners have ever been harassed or seen anything suspicious on the trail. As the city has gentrified, more and more people are using the trails. I feel perfectly safe, but avoid the trails that do not have lights when it is dark, primarily because I once face planted pretty hard after tripping on uneven concrete in the dark. There is a segment of the trail that goes into a pretty rough area. One woman got mauled by a pit bull. There were a group of kids who were attacking cyclists, mainly just for the thrill. They got caught and there have not been any problems since.

rojo wrote:Can you imagine the horror or being attacked by a huge football player?

We can.

I'm a woman and I usually feel pretty safe when I run. I typically run on trails and roads outside of a city that was deemed the poorest city in America a few years ago. While there have been horror stories of people on the trails getting mugged or maimed, it hasn't drastically changed my running habits.

Most of the time, I do run with a group or at least one other person. We do our best to try to make sure we have a buddy system if the pack gets really spread out so no one is wandering around alone.

When I run alone, I'm sure to have a phone with me to use in emergencies and I tend to hold my keys in a way that I could use for defensive maneuvers. No earbuds. I tend to give animals wide berths if I pass them (sometimes even stopping my run to walk since there are sometimes horses on the trails and I don't want to spook them). I try to get eye contact with people I do pass on the trail. But most importantly, I tell people where I plan to run before I go out, so in case something happens to me, they know where to look.

When I travel for work, I'm willing to drive to locations further away from my hotel if I feel safer in that new area.

It appears the ex-football player was likely despondent with his lot in life. In the article you can see how happy he was on his signing day. But, I am sure he never applied himself in school, instead thinking he would make it to the NFL. Unfortunately, he finds himself out of school with no diploma, no job and no clue what to do like so many other former collegiate athletes.

I feel completely safe running around my downtown area. (500,000+ pop.) We have more than our fair share of crime here and an equivalent share of people that live in the 'burbs who think the downtown area is "scary." No matter where you are in the US, it's all a matter of perception which includes thinking for yourself rather than listening to the "shock value sells" talking heads on your favorite news station.

I generally feel safe but you never know. I ran that trail once when visiting the area about 10 years ago (and had a vintage 1983 Hospital Hill bag stolen that I'd stashed in a tree with a dry shirt - but I digress).

This also points to the need to carry ID, not that it would've saved him but would've aided notifying family. Attacks aside, you never know when you could have a medical issue or some accident happen. A little Road ID or similar device on your shoe is a simple solution.

I would feel much safer running if there was a ban on all sharped objects.

as unfortunate as this is, I think this was a completely random anomaly.

In the same way that the bombers at the boston marathon wont deter me from running or attending.

Main lesson: when a crazy loses it, just pray youre out of the line of random fire.

theres a reason why in jail the most feared inmates are the ones who are the craziest.

Horrible. Imagine getting murdered and being called a "jogger" by the newspaper.

CTE?

From Wikipedia:

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a form of encephalopathy that is a progressive degenerative disease, which can currently only be definitively diagnosed postmortem. ... The disease was previously called dementia pugilistica (DP), i.e. "punch-drunk", as it was initially found in those with a history of boxing. CTE has been most commonly found in professional athletes participating in American football, Association football, ice hockey, professional wrestling and other contact sports who have experienced repetitive brain trauma, ... in both cases resulting in characteristic degeneration of brain tissue and the accumulation of tau protein. Individuals with CTE may show symptoms of dementia, such as memory loss, aggression, confusion and depression, which generally appear years or many decades after the trauma.

CTE is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in people with a history of repetitive brain trauma, including symptomatic concussions as well as sub-concussive hits to the head that do not cause symptoms.

I never feel safe, but I'm always prepared.

I'm not worried about a person attacking me, I'm worried about some idiot "snap-chatting" while driving and running me over.

Ok only somewhat related. I'm curious as to why people on this site won't even mention the name of things like cities. . Is there something about posting on a messageboard without registration that makes people not identify anything? Like they think, 'I'm in secret mode and hiding my name so I need to hide everything.'It logically makes no sense.For example.

Old D2 Guy wrote:

I feel completely safe running around my downtown area. (500,000+ pop.) .

Why doesnt' Old D2 guy mention the name of the city? There is no reason to not mention it.

Or this.

ladedah wrote:

I typically run on trails and roads outside of a city that was deemed the poorest city in America a few years ago.

Again, why not mention the name of the city?

I'll see something like this in another thread. Someone will say, "I ran at a mid-major d1 school" but not mention the name or they'll say they were "pretty fast in HS" but not mention the times.

Psychologists, any theories?

The only thing in my suburban neighborhood that's ever made me feel unsafe is unleashed dogs.

Maybe I'm blissfully ignorant.

they are likely the only serious runners in their area and thus just by mentioning a city could be easily identified

These things can happen. I run on the Three Notch Trail in southern Maryland (Are you happy now, Rojo?) and would consider this to be practically the safest place ever to run. Except a couple of years ago a guy assaulted and killed and a random woman running on the trail. Even if the odds are low, you're still playing the odds every time you go out. The best you can do is play the smartest odds.