Hall Of Famer Dunn Shot In Struggle With Intruder

Courtesy of PRCA

ProRodeo Hall of Fame bullfighter and rodeo clown Rex Dunn, shot during a struggle with an intruder at his Waurika, Okla., ranch on May 27, is back home recovering from his injury after a 24-hour hospital stay. Dunn, 55, was feeding his cattle at around 5 p.m. on that Friday afternoon when he saw an unknown man lurking near his barn. He got the .22 caliber long-barrel handgun that he had bought for his wife, Tracy, and his two teenage sons armed themselves to join him in the search. Coyote, 16, took a shotgun to check the road, and Jace, 19, had a 9mm semi-automatic he took with him to flank the barn. When Dunn went to the front door of the barn, he saw a man climbing over the back fence to escape. “I hollered for him to stop, because I didn’t want to shoot him,” Dunn said. “I had the gun cocked and was watching him when another guy came out of the trees next to the barn and knocked me to the ground. “I was on my back and had the gun stuck in his stomach. I had time to think, ‘Should I shoot him?’ I didn’t know if I could face murder charges. I didn’t know exactly where my boys were and if they might be in danger. The two of us were wrestling for control of the gun when he turned the barrel and pulled the trigger. It all happened so fast.” When the gun went off, the assailant took off through the trees with Dunn firing all eight remaining rounds in the gun to hasten the man’s retreat. Dunn called younger son, Coyote, on his cell phone to tell him, ‘I’ve been shot, come get me.’” The bullet penetrated an inch below the first rib on Dunn’s left side, passing through flesh about three inches in from his waist, and damaged no organs. He was treated at Jefferson County Hospital in Waurika and was held overnight for observation, in part because he has Stage IV renal cell carcinoma and doctors wanted to be sure there were no complications. Thirty units from regional law enforcement agencies were brought in to search for the villains, which included the use of helicopters and tracking dogs, without result. “The dogs picked up the scent a few times,” Dunn said, “but they lost them for good in a thicket about three-quarters of a mile from our place. I think these guys were looking for stuff they could steal after dark and didn’t think anybody would notice them. "I guess I’m pretty lucky it didn’t turn out any worse than it did."