ARLINGTON, Texas — Editor's note: The video published above is a WFAA report from June 18 about the shooting.
The victim at the center of an Arlington Police officer-involved shooting on June 9 is speaking for the first time, and her words serve as a powerful warning to anyone in an abusive relationship.
Jonni Boyd, 40, is currently recovering at an area hospital after her husband of 15 years, who she had been separated from for four months, shot her three times at Kane Park.
Boyd told police the 42-year-old suspect, Shannon Boyd, had been following her and a friend and that they pulled over to the park to notify authorities moments before the shooting happened.
A police dash camera captured officers arriving, Jonni Boyd being shot three times, and then officers approaching the pair and opening fire toward her estranged husband. He was struck and later died at a hospital. As officers opened fire, it appeared the gunman may have tried to turn the weapon on himself before he was subdued – yet missed.
"God was protecting me that night, or I wouldn't be here today," Jonni Boyd wrote to WFAA from her hospital bed. "The memory of what happened will always be etched in my mind – everything happened so fast, but it's all still so clear. It seems like I'm in a nightmare and haven't woken up yet."
Jonni Boyd is now raising money to pay for her hospital bills. She was shot in the head, leg, and hip. She has a shattered jaw, femur, and hip as a result of the shooting and is learning how to walk again. You can help by going here.
"I am fighting to get better for my children, and I know I will push through everything I'm going through right now. I'm learning to walk again, and hopefully, I will be back on solid foods after six weeks," she said. "I'm getting stronger every day, but I know I have a long road ahead of me."
Earlier in the night, Jonni Boyd reported to police that her husband confronted her in the parking lot of an Arlington restaurant and even pointed a gun at her while she was sitting in her car. The two were in the process of going through a divorce, she said.
Jonni Boyd added that her husband said he would shoot her if she tried to call the police.
The man left the area, and when Jonni Boyd did notify APD, she submitted a report about what happened; and the department was in the process of securing a warrant for her estranged husband's arrest just before she was shot.
Jonni Boyd said she was told not to return home or to a place her husband would know she was staying to prevent any violence. But when she told police she noticed him following her and a friend, they found a GPS tracking device on her car after the shooting.
Weeks earlier, Jonni Boyd told WFAA that her estranged husband suddenly showed up at a movie theater she was at and physically assaulted her.
She said the GPS device now makes sense, as he knew where she was at the time. The Allen Police Department was investigating that case at the time of the shooting.
On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled the government can take guns away from people subject to restraining orders for domestic violence. Boyd said one was in the process of being obtained before she was shot.
"For anyone in an abusive relationship – my prayer is you find your people. The ones that will support you and help you through your situation and will help you get out," she said.
"Don't suffer in silence."
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