Then he was shot again.
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Before dawn Monday, 58-year-old Byron Jones was unlocking the door to his small restaurant on MLK, called Nicey's, named for a family member.
"He was distracted by someone arguing in the parking lot and didn't see the robber running up behind him."
The robber started firing, but missed Jones. When he fired again, he struck him in the buttock, and when he was on the ground, fired once more.
"He put his arm up and it blocked it. That was nobody but God," said wife Mandy Jones.
The bullet did shatter the bone in his arm. He remains hospitalized and will undergo surgery to repair his arm.
"It really hurts that anybody would go to that length when they could just come in and ask him for help," Mandy Jones said.
The couple has owned a number of businesses in the Sunnyside area over the years, including a dry cleaners and convenience store. Most of those have closed, leaving Nicey's. Their passion is the church next to the restaurant. Jones founded The Rock Christian Center several years ago. He is now the pastor.
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"What really hurt is there were people who saw it all in the parking lot and did nothing to help him afterward," Mandy Jones said. "He was on the phone with a prayer partner when it happened, and it was he who called 911."
She and her family have avoided looking at the surveillance video that was recorded on the restaurant's camera.
"I saw a little bit of it and I couldn't go to sleep," she said.
The video is the best clue to catch the robber, who drove away in a small sedan. Mandy Jones hopes someone recognizes him, and has the courage to come forward.
"What if it was you? Would you want someone to step in and offer help and let you know," she said.
Anyone with information can contact police or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.