‘I could have died that day.’ Dorky’s worker recounts being shot at work, the aftermath
Connor Mendoza couldn’t just stand there and watch someone else die. His body wouldn’t let him.
Police received a call at about 12:50 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 12, from the place Mendoza worked, Dorky’s Arcade in downtown Tacoma. Someone reported a shooting at the bar-arcade business, 754 Pacific Ave.
Mendoza told The News Tribune about the incident during a phone interview on Tuesday, Oct. 22.
“I’ve had plenty of trauma in my life, all my life, but this is the worst kind of PTSD I have ever experienced in my entire —,” he said, his voice catching in his throat, “— for my 31 years of my life.”
Dorky’s regulars might recognize Mendoza, who has worked there off and on over the past three years in various capacities, including performing janitorial work and working in the kitchen and behind the bar.
On the night of the shooting, a security guard stationed at Dorky’s started having a conflict with a man outside, Mendoza said. The agitator was about 6 feet tall and appeared to be carrying a firearm in the pocket of his white sweatshirt, he said. Beneath a ski mask, it looked like he was smiling.
As things started to escalate, Mendoza said, his boss called Tacoma police. The man, who’d entered the business, looked like he was going to shoot the security guard.
“And I don’t know ... what came over me,” Mendoza told The News Tribune on Tuesday. “My brain was telling me not to do anything, but my body just went directly towards the guy. I slammed him against the wall.”
During the fracas, a bullet whizzed 2 inches from the security guard’s head, and Mendoza was shot in the stomach, he said. Twice.
Dorky’s has made headlines in recent days thanks in part to the shooting. The rumor mill kicked up last week as social-media users wondered whether the business had shuttered. That speculation was shut down Friday, Oct. 18, when Dorky’s posted on Facebook that it was only closing for the weekend for a revamp and remodel.
“A lot of things have been going on this last week. One of our employees was seriously injured. Please pray for Connor and his family,” the post read. “Don’t worry, we’re not giving up on Tacoma yet …”
‘Please tell her that I’m sorry’
Mendoza told The News Tribune a few days after his release from the hospital that he relives the ordeal “every day, every night.”
Both of the bullets that struck Mendoza entered the same spot, he said. His small intestine “was literally coming out of [his] stomach.” Doctors would later tell him one bullet narrowly missed his spine and that he was lucky none of his other organs were hit.
William Jones was working security at Dorky’s during the shooting. He told The News Tribune on Wednesday that the night of Oct. 12 was fairly busy. Folks were arguing and drinking outside on the surrounding streets and in parking lots, he added.
Jones said he was stationed at the door checking IDs when a couple approached and asked if they could come in because a man had been acting strangely. He let them in, and then the man tried to follow.
The guy was clearly intoxicated and trying to bring in a bottle of liquor, so Jones denied him entry. The man didn’t like that and “threatened to smack” Jones.
The conflict soon spilled into the business, and the man became more aggressive as he heard that the police would be called. Jones said Mendoza was trying to help him subdue the attacker when three shots rang out. After the suspect fled the scene, Jones heard two more shots outside.
The security guard had a choice: Pursue the shooter and see which direction his vehicle headed or render first aid to Mendoza. He picked the latter.
“I was in the military, so my mind is more calm in certain situations than other people,” the 24-year-old said. “My main priority was Connor, so making sure Connor was alive so he could see his family was the only thing that was going through my head.”
Jones stressed that bars should conduct pat-downs and avoid over-serving patrons. He also hopes to soon see a stronger police presence downtown.
In the moments after the shooting, Mendoza feared that he wouldn’t ever again see his kids, 1-month-old Connor Jr. and 2-year-old Iris. He recalled bleeding on the floor of Dorky’s, close to death.
The father of two asked a coworker to relay a message to his partner.
“Please, please tell her that I’m sorry,” Mendoza recalled saying. “Pray for me because I don’t — I don’t want to lose any of my family, my kids.”
He added: “I have a month-old, and I could have died that day.”
Suspect still at large
Mendoza is from the Seattle area. He said he attended many schools because he went through foster care, but that Tacoma has been good to him since moving here in 2015.
He told The News Tribune that he loved working at Dorky’s. He doesn’t know if he’ll return. Today Mendoza is afraid of getting stuck in a similar scenario, and he’s constantly looking over his shoulder.
A Tacoma Police Department spokesperson said via text Tuesday that no one is in custody in connection with the Dorky’s shooting. It remains an ongoing and active investigation.
For Mendoza, it’s nerve-racking that the suspect hasn’t been caught. Any odd noise or firework-like sound acts as a trigger, and he starts “visualizing that whole situation from beginning to the end.”
Mendoza has been in constant pain since that life-altering night. His stomach hurts with even the slightest move. He said that since the bullet hit a nerve, it also feels like knives are poking his left leg at all times.
Doctors have advised Mendoza to take the next four to six months to recover. During that span, he plans on spending time with his family.
Mendoza said his little girl loves Halloween, and he hopes to take the kids to pumpkin patches. He’ll try to get his mind off the shooting, although that’s easier said than done: “It’s hard because it doesn’t matter what time of the day it is. It’s always there.”
Still, Mendoza is thankful to be here.
“I’m just glad that I’m alive,” he said, “and I can be with my kids.”
