Tablet prevents salesman from being struck by bullet after Texas homeowner shot at him

A door-to-door salesman had an encounter that could have cost him his life after a Texas homeowner called him the N-word and shot at him, and he luckily walked away unscathed as the bullet was stopped by his work tablet.

According to NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, the February 8 incident occurred in a neighborhood in East Fort Worth. “I’m just shook up,” the unidentified salesman told the news outlet. “That’s where the bullet would’ve came out,” he said as he showed his damaged work tablet.

The Reliant Energy salesman said he was conducting a door-to-door which involved questioning residents in the area about their electric bills. He said he made his way to a home where he encountered a man armed with a gun after he knocked on the door.

“He just came out and just straight pointed the barrel at me and then shot me and told me to get away from here n****. I’m lucky it didn’t hit me it hit the tablet,” he said. The salesman also said his tablet is usually positioned on the side of his body. But on that day, the device was positioned around his stomach area.

The salesman said he contacted the police after leaving the home. Fort Worth Police Officer Buddy Calzada, however, said “nobody was inside the residence” when they responded to the scene.

A warrant has since been issued for the homeowner’s arrest, with police stating that the suspect could be charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and hate crime, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth reported.

“You’re looking at several different charges because you just cannot fire a weapon at a human for absolutely no reason, no threat involved,” Calzada said.

The bullet fortunately got lodged in the victim’s tablet, preventing him from being struck after the homeowner opened fire on him. “This is the one thing I always fear — getting shot at the door and today it happened,” the salesman said, adding that the homeowner should be held accountable for shooting at him.

“I got two daughters. I could’ve been in the hospital dead now,” he said. 

Reliant Energy also released a statement saying they are in the “process of learning more, but thankfully the sales agent was not harmed.” “The safety and security of sales agents is our top priority, and we are working with local law enforcement on next steps,” the statement added.