Aurora man said he was shot while walking his dogs

AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — A man is recovering in the hospital after he said an evening dog walk took a dangerous turn.

The Aurora Police Department is still investigating but it told FOX31 that someone has been arrested in the case.

“I’ve always walked my dogs in the grass, for eight years, and out of the blue this man harasses me and other people about it,” Rueben Campbell said.

Campbell told FOX31 he walks his three dogs, Zara, Zeus and Shorty, on the grass in the common area at his condo building on Wyoming Place.

He said the man had argued with him about that in the past, but this time, on March 9, things escalated.

“He must have seen me and my wife walking by and comes right up and starts it with us,” he said.

Campbell said the man asked, “Hi my man, how many times do I need to tell you not to be walking on my grass?”

He admits there was a verbal altercation. It got so heated that he said his wife had to get in between the two.

“I immediately shoved her to the side and put my hand on his chest, not push him but to tell him to give me my space and leave my wife out of this,” Campbell said.

He never expected what would come next.

“I looked down and he had pointed a gun at me through his hoodie and shot me,” he said.

Police arrived on the scene shortly after to take the man into custody. Campbell was shot once in his side.

“I’m super swollen because of it all, it entered here on my left side under my lowest rib and ricocheted all over,” Campbell said. “The bullet came out on the other side.”

He said he has internal damage and a broken right hip.

Police charged Jonathan Nelson, 35, with assault in the first degree and violation of a protection order, as police say he was prohibited from purchasing or possessing a firearm or weapon.

Now, Campbell and his wife are uncomfortable to go back to the place they have called home for more than a decade.

“It’s traumatic,” he said.

Campbell knows he has so many people depending on him and said that’s what worries him the most.

“I have a long road to recovery and I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said.

Campbell’s family has set up a Gofundme to help cover medical costs and bills while he’s out of work.