By Shavonne Potts
spotts@salisburypost.com
DeMario “Mario” Whisonant is a self-professed family man. But if things had gone differently, Thursday morning could have been the last time he saw his family.
Whisonant, 22, was robbed and shot in his own neighborhood Thursday while walking near Fulton Street businesses Latin Mix and Cut Up and Dye to meet his cousin. At about 5:30 p.m., three young men and a woman approached him and asked if he had a cigarette. When he pulled out the cigarettes from his pocket, he pulled $40 out with it.
Whisonant said he didn’t intend to take the money out, but as he did, one of the males pulled out a gun and pointed it at him, demanding the money. He spoke with a Post reporter just hours after the incident.
“I asked, ‘Why y’all doing this?’ ” he said.
Whisonant stepped back, but the man got closer and fired. Instinctively, Whisonant swiped at the gun. The bullet grazed his forehead, creating a gash near his hairline as it whizzed past.
“I felt it hit me,” he said, a bandage still covering the wound.
Whisonant fell back onto the ground and felt his head.
“I hit the ground. I didn’t know what to think. I was stunned,” he said.
The blood on his hands confirmed he had been shot, but Whisonant knew he wasn’t seriously wounded because he could stand, he said.
His cousin was just arriving to the area and he drove Whisonant to the hospital.
The last thing Whisonant remembered was the four people walking away.
Thinking back on what happened, Whisonant isn’t sure why he hesitated when the man asked for the money, except that he was in shock.
Whisonant believes he’s still alive because of prayers.
“My mom, she’s a church-goer. She prays for me every night,” he said. “All I can think of is my mother had to be praying for me.”
Whisonant said he’s not a troublemaker and never gets into altercations with anyone.
“I don’t bother nobody. I’m courteous. Stuff happens every day to good people,” he said.
He believes the man didn’t have to shoot him. Whisonant, who has worked at the Post as a temp for about five years, said he works to provide for his 1-year-old daughter, Leyanna, but he would’ve gladly given the money.
“My life revolves around my daughter. I work to take care of her,” he said.
Whisonant is a Salisbury native. Salisbury Police officials did not return a phone call seeking details Thursday night.
Contact reporter Shavonne Potts at 704-797-4253.