A man says he called Dallas police to warn them about a "huge, crazed" man at the Fair Oaks Tennis Courts a half-hour before a jogger was brutally hacked to death along the popular White Rock Creek Trail Monday morning.
The man, who wished to remain anonymous, said he called 911 at 7:32 a.m. Monday, 30 minutes before police said the jogger was killed, to report a "huge, crazed" man in the park.
The witness said he knew immediately the guy was a danger and, though he didn't see a machete, said the man had a "crazed" look in his eyes.
"The best way to describe it is his brain was clearly in another atmosphere. I knew this guy was trouble, a scary stare," the witness said.
The witness said the man was intently focused on another jogger and that the jogger kept looking back, aware of the man behind him.
"He ran faster ahead," the witness said of the jogger.
The man said he called 911, gave police a description of a man wearing a gray hoodie or coat and that he had his arms tucked underneath the coat.
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The man told NBC 5 he was afraid enough that he took out his pepper spray for self defense.
He added that from where he first saw the man and called 911 to where the murder happened was almost a full mile and he doesn't know why police were unable to check out the situation in those 20 minutes.
Former College Athlete Arrested in Jogger's Slaying
Dallas police arrested 21-year-old Thomas Johnson, a former collegiate football player, at the scene of the crime Monday morning after he confessed to killing the jogger. Johnson told police he was upset over his current living situation and picked the jogger at random.
Johnson is currently being held at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center and has been charged with murder. At this time, a bond amount on the murder charge has not been disclosed and jail records do not list an attorney on record.
NBC 5's Frank Heinz contributed to this report.
