Man shot at Canton travel center describes moments that led up to shooting

Video Showing moments before shooting (Source: Chris Sanders)

CANTON, TX (KLTV) - We're learning new details about what happened during a shooting at an East Texas travel center from the man who was shot.

Related: Authorities identify suspect in I-20 travel center shooting

The shooting happened around 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Canton Travel Center on I-20.

According to the Van Zandt County Sheriff's Office, D-Jay Stevenson, an employee at the travel center, asked Rudolph Chestang to leave after Chestang had gotten into an altercation at the store.

Police say that's when Chestang grabbed a gun from a vehicle and shot Stevenson in the stomach.

"All I know is, it just took that one second, to completely change my life," says Stevenson.

Eyewitness cell phone video shows the moments before and after the shooting, where Stevenson asked two people in a black SUV to leave.

"I heard him yelling and I heard him getting close, so I was trying to get in the store and trying to get behind the counter because they keep a club or whatever behind the counter. The man was extremely belligerent and drunk," says Stevenson. "Only thing I can remember is seeing the gun and trying to force it down.

D-Jay says after seeing Chestang walk in and out of the store a couple of times, he was worried, about the safety of others.

"He was throwing the bird, cussing, everything, and that's when I proceeded to tell him again he needed to leave. Because, yes we may be a truck stop, but that also means we have people with their kids that are traveling places," says Stevenson.

Greg Coble, D-Jay's friend and also an employee at the truck stop, says he grabbed the shooter right before the shot was fired.

"We saved each other's lives, I mean, had I not done what I had done, he could've been well, I truly believe he would've been shot in the back," says Coble.

Now, D-Jay and Greg say they're looking for answers.

"Why in the hell is the driver still rolling around, when in the video, he plainly handed the dude the gun? Man, that's I mean, that's really the only question I've got. And the only thing I've got to say is why, why is that dude not charged with anything," says Coble.

The Van Zandt County Sheriff's Office has not released any new information on the shooting. No charges have been made against the driver of the SUV. Chestang is charged with attempted murder and prohibited items in a correctional facility.