'It can still happen to you:' Albany Park man shot four times in legs while trying to park car
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An Albany Park neighborhood man was shot four times on his way home from work in a seemingly random attack.
The man, Averi Dodd, is now out of the hospital – and he talked exclusively Friday with CBS 2's Sabrina Franza.
When Dodd was robbed this week at the intersection of Albany Avenue and Gunnison Street, he was just trying to find a place to park. Now, he says he can't even bear to cross the street at that corner again.
"The whole ride, I just knew I couldn't walk no more. The whole ride. I just see nothing but light from 1:30 a.m. to 11:30 the following day. I was looking up the entire time," Dodd said. "So I thought I couldn't walk anymore."
Dodd is a father of two. He was on his way home from work when he was the victim of a shooting that seems random.
"The bullet went in this one and out this one and in this one," he said, pointing to two bandaged wounds on his right thigh. "I'm an innocent person; an innocent man that does nothing but work."
Dodd was circling, looking for a parking spot around midnight Wednesday night when he spotted a car drop off someone at the end of a nearby alley. He didn't think anything of it at first.
But then, he turned and stopped at a stop sign, and he says the same person who got out of the car took out a gun and fired 30 times. Shots rang out and glass shattered.
The gunman disabled the engine of Dodd's car with bullets and then shot him four times in the legs.
"I crawled into the nearby alley right here and I leaned up against the wall my legs are shaking – like shaking like 90 going north," he said.
Now, Dodd says police have no leads, no tips, and no suspects.
"The word goes around that bullets don't have no name on them - they don't," he said. "I'm a living witness to it. They don't."
Dodd can't step forward himself. So he is asking his neighbors to step forward to help police catch the shooter.
"You don't have to be in trouble. You don't need to be in a gang. You don't have to know the person. You don't have to know, anybody, anything – shape, form, or fashion – or what neighborhood you're in," Dodd said. "It can still happen to you."
Dodd is expected to be able to walk again after surgery and months of physical therapy. He says his main goal is to get back to work as soon as possible so as to support his family.
Anyone with information can report it to police anonymously.
Dodd has set up a GoFundMe for help with his expenses as he recovers.
