Tablet saves Black Texas salesman called racial epithet, shot by homeowner, police say

An arrest warrant has been issued for a homeowner after he reportedly shot at a man going door to door in an east Fort Worth neighborhood, according to Fort Worth police.

Around 12:30 p.m. Thursday, officers were dispatched to the 3100 block of Purington Avenue.

Officers arrived at the scene, where a 32-year-old Black man told police that an adult male suspect started yelling racist slurs at him and then fired a weapon toward him, according to police.

The victim told KXAS-TV that he works for Reliant Energy and was going door to door in the east Fort Worth neighborhood on Thursday morning asking residents about their electric bills. He knocked on a door on Purington Avenue and was met by a man with a gun, he told KXAS.

The victim, who has asked to not be identified, was not injured thanks to a work tablet he had that stopped the bullet, according to the report by KXAS.

“He just came out and just straight pointed the barrel at me and then shot me and told me ‘to get away from here, (racist slur).’ I’m lucky it (the bullet) didn’t hit me. It hit the tablet,” the victim told KXAS.

When officers arrived and began investigating, no one was home at the residence where the shooting occurred, police told the Star-Telegram. Fort Worth Gun Violence detectives are working on the case and were writing a warrant for the suspect’s arrest, police said.

Based on the information provided by the victim, the suspect could face charges including aggravated assault and possibly a hate crime, police said.

Police have not released the identity of the suspect.