Family of Alabama man shot while jogging responds with love, forgiveness for random attack

Published 9:49 pm Sunday, June 14, 2020

A Selma man was arrested and charged with attempted murder Tuesday morning after firing on a jogger.

The Selma Police Department (SPD) identified the suspect as Chadwick Mitchell, 24. Mitchell is charged with attempted murder and menacing. Dallas County District Attorney Michael Jackson identified the victim as Harrison Smith.

Kalee Peak, Smith’s sister in law, said Smith is in stable condition at UAB Hospital after undergoing surgery for artery damage in his leg. Peak added that Smith will need a second surgery later this week.

According to SPD Capt. Johnny King and Dallas County Sheriff Mike Granthum, a man was jogging down the street in the area of Alabama Hwy. 219 near the railroad crossing and West Dallas Avenue, where a man driving a brown van shot him in the right thigh area. Granthum also said two men assisted Smith and transported him to the hospital.

The victim gave a description of the vehicle and the driver involved in the shooting to the SPD, which thereafter issued a BOLO (Be On the Look Out) for the suspect.

Granthum said the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) pulled over a van at Alabama Hwy. 22 and Dallas County Road 45 in Marion Junction several minutes after the shooting occurred.

Mitchell was detained and transported to SPD headquarters, where the department’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID) followed up on the case. Mitchell was subsequently booked, processed and then transported to the Dallas County Jail under no bond. King said the victim and the suspect do not know each other.

Peak and her sister, Mallory Kelley, issued a statement on behalf of the family Tuesday night.

“One thing we know Harrison would want Selma to see from this random act, is the love he has in his heart for all races in the Selma community and the forgiveness that he has already prayed over his attacker,” Kelley said. “He would want us as a community to pray for his attacker’s heart to be opened up and see Jesus’ grace and love for him.

“We would like to thank those who quickly came to his rescue and the Selma Police and Dallas County Sheriff Department for their incredible response. Our prayer is that this could bring unity through Jesus, starting from a city that already has a spotlight on it, to be a light of hope to the rest of the world. We know through this that Jesus will be glorified and the real enemy of darkness will be defeated.”