In a jailhouse interview, the man charged with shooting two people on a Dallas Area Rapid Transit train last week says he was defending himself after one of the men attacked him with a knife.
"I wasn't trying to harm nobody," said Patrick Klaypenh.
He said he was simply on the way to work when he encountered a man who had stabbed him about a month earlier.
"You see the back of my head right here?" he asked, pointing to a scar on his head and neck. "I came this close to dying from this."
Then, Friday night, Klaypenh said he was going to work when he encountered the stranger again.
"So as the train doors close, I look to my right and I see the same man who tried to kill me," he said. "He had the same knife with him, and [was] just running to me with it."
According to DART police, witnesses give a much different account of the incident.
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DART spokesman Morgan Lyons also points out Klaypenh fled after the shooting and that when officers finally caught up with him on Monday, he gave a statement but didn't say anything about a knife.
Police are investigating whether the attack was gang-related, Lyons said.
The second man struck by gunfire was a bystander, Klaypenh said.
"I just want to apologize to anyone on the train," he said. "I'm very sorry. I wasn't trying to harm nobody."
Lyons said at least one of the victims remained in the hospital late Friday.
Jail records listed Klaypenh's age as 22 years old, but he said he is actually 23.
As a convicted felon, he acknowledged he should not have been carrying a gun but said he had it to protect himself.
