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

rojo wrote:

"I've fallen and can't keep up" life alert type thing.

What do you guys think of my product idea?

Can't keep up? You must be remembering your racing days.

Hey Rojo,

Where do you do most of your running when you're in DC? I didn't know you frequented the area.

On the topic of the thread: that's crazy, perhaps this man has a mental illness. Hopefully he can get help. Prayers to the victim's family.

rojo wrote:

Not sure if it would need to have a speakerphone of some sort in it. I was thinking of a "I've fallen and can't keep up" life alert type thing.

Just to emphasize, I think a speakerphone that can call something other than 911 is necessary. If I pull a hamstring five miles from home, I don't want my only options to be 1. walking back, or 2. calling emergency services.

I generally feel safe as a running pace gives a (possibly false) sense that I can evade most attacks. If in an urban area where there isn't a crowd I'll use common sense such as not going down narrow alleys, unlit streets or blindly around corners. I'd feel more vulnerable if I were walking, though running I don't feel like most attackers are going to want to sprint after me and if they did I'd have a lot more time to react as it would be an obvious aggressive attack in comparison to someone walking up to me.

On the more irrational side, I do most of my running on trails in the woods. Every now and then in the evenings I'll realize how vulnerable I or other trail users would be to ambush by a sociopath with a crossbow or rifle, or even to accidental shooting during hunting season. Not enough to really be in fear of this but enough to get a kick of adrenaline every now and then.

rojo,

I've run that White Rock Trail several times over the years while staying in Dallas for business trips. Never once did I feel afraid. I've run this during the day and at night. It's one of my favorite places to run in Dallas.

As a Hispanic native American I always notice its black and whites fighting each other.

I'm wondering when we're finally going to get around deporting all of you.

I would wrote:

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

I would feel much safer if there was a ban on all football players.

U St. Talent Pool wrote:

On the topic of the thread: that's crazy, perhaps this man has a mental illness. Hopefully he can get help. Prayers to the victim's family.

If by "get help" you mean "the death penalty," I quite agree.

I live in Columbus, Ohio and pretty much stick to parks and rail-to-trails. I feel safe there alone buy my wife does not. Parks like Highbanks and Blendon Woods if I want trails, or Sharon Woods and Evan's Trail for pavement.

I stay off of the Olentangy Trail. I do think it's a little shady the closer you get to downtown.

Black Med Student wrote:

Is he gonna use an insanity defense? Are people going to say he is mentally ill? Nobody randomly kills someone because they are upset at their situation in life. Unless its one of the white kids who shoot up churches and schools every other week.

You mean like that white kid in Oregon last week? He's about as white as President Obama and you don't hear anyone calling the Prez white do ya?

I live in the Dallas area and local media is still saying the victim has not been identified. A reminder for all of us to run with ID (I use RoadID).

This is horrific and tragic, but i think rojo highjacking the thread and asking if we feel safe while we run is fear mongering. If you feel unsafe when running, statistically you should probably feel unsafe most your waking hours.

My prayers are with the victim and his family. As a runner myself, no car key mentioned? No car in a lot over night? Must live close enough to run there from home. At that age if not married, possibly from out of state no one will miss him until his weekly call home😔doesn't happen. This breaks my heart. White Rock Lake has been a runners Haven for many many years. And as someone mentioned, it was almost 8a.m...it was daylight! So senseless and sad

I think running with a Glock 26 makes more sense.

who da fuk lives in texas????? fuk all them hicks

DalRun wrote:

I live in the Dallas area and local media is still saying the victim has not been identified. A reminder for all of us to run with ID (I use RoadID).

David Stephens age 52.

I'm not a proponent of the nanny state, but the institutions the perp played football for bear some responsibilty: his h.s. where they undoubtedly either fed him a steady diet of steroids (or turned a blind eye to his steroid use) which destabilized him mentally, and Texas A&M which should have notified the authorities when one of their star players just walks off the face the earth mid-season, no doubt w/undiagnosed post-concussive syndrome or some other form of closed-head injuries.

Stevens, not Stephens.

U St. Talent Pool wrote:

Hey Rojo,

Where do you do most of your running when you're in DC? I didn't know you frequented the area.

On the topic of the thread: that's crazy, perhaps this man has a mental illness. Hopefully he can get help. Prayers to the victim's family.

I lived up by the National cathedral. I did most of my runs on trails. Or a good portion. I'd run up wisconsin towards military road or (something) and then head east and run into the park and come south and up out through the Vice Presidents house and run up mass towards the Cathedra. I think it was 10-12 miles??

On my long run I'd just keep going down the park all the way to Georgetown and come up the Canal until it also hit Mass Ave NW.

I just signed up for map my run but i can't share it apparently without paying.

Here is a picture of my standard run. It says it's 10-12 run.

I was going to comment on running in the East Bay as well. I live and train here and Oakland is crappy for running because so much of it is industrial or run-down, though I wouldn't say I've ever felt unsafe, just don't enjoy it. I usually run the trails in Oakland and Berkeley hills because it's better running. That said, my scariest encounter happened on one of these trails just a few weeks ago when I was about an hour into a long run and got spooked by some random crazy person wearing all black. It was getting dark so I didn't see him until we were 5 yards from each other, and I visibly jumped a little bit when I noticed him. He was just standing off trail not moving and after making eye contact starting talking sh** saying he was going to beat my ass. Had to turn around and run back by him 5 minutes later and was totally freaked.

Wanted to point out that similar to the Dallas tragedy, there was a hiker who was shot and killed in Huckleberry Regional Park almost 2 years ago. Broad daylight (3 p.m. I think?). A burned body turned up in the parking lot at Redwood Regional Park last year. I still run all these trails, but I think news like this gets our attention because it's so random and unexpected.