PHOENIX — Two people were murdered, and five others injured after a seemingly random shooting spree Sunday night at the Days Inn hotel near 27th Avenue and Deer Valley Road.
"My daughter and I heard the noises and thought someone was doing fireworks," said Wes Williams.
Williams left his daughter in the room with his adult son and went to check out the commotion Sunday night.
"I was in the hallway coming out, that's how I got shot," said Williams.
The high-caliber rounds grazed the father's jaw and forearm.
"I was just holding a towel on here and bleeding out my arm," said Williams, gesturing to his bruised cheek. "It didn't hit any muscle it just went right -- the door saved me."
The door also saved Timothy Dahling.
"We came out the door we saw a guy with a flashlight and we didn't know what to do," said Dahling. "And all of a sudden we heard, pop pop pop."
Phoenix police say the suspect has been identified as 24-year-old Isaiah Steven Williams. He was wearing tactical gear and armed with a semi-automatic rifle. Police say after exchanging gunfire with police, he appears to have taken his own life.
Dahling said he got a good look at the shooter.
"I think it was a gas mask and a helmet," said Dahling. "He was dressed in all black."
Tragically police say the suspect did kill an innocent man and woman in the parking lot of the Days Inn.
"It's devastating, it really is. It's heartbreaking," said Sara Mann, who was staying inside the hotel.
Mann was staying at the Days Inn for a business trip when she heard the gunfire. She immediately ran and hid in the shower.
She is now heading home to Texas, worried about PTSD.
"He was right on top of me. He knocked on my window," said Mann, recalling to the suspect's shooting spree. "It's hard. You hear sounds and you're just nervous."
Williams said he is already on anxiety medicine after his first encounter with life-altering violence in 2008.
"I was involved in a home invasion where I got stabbed twice and killed both the intruders," said Williams."My sister said I'm a cat, I got nine lives."
Wes, Sara, and Timothy are now left wrestling with the dueling emotions.
"I guess I feel lucky... I'm not dead," said Williams.
But each of them knows that others were not lucky.
"It could've been anybody," said Mann, holding back tears.
Williams told ABC15 the biggest challenge now is not his numb ear, it is the financial fallout.
He had to find a new hotel to stay at with his children. His son's car was also completely shot up in the spree.
A fundraiser has been started to help Wes Williams and his kids out.
Police are still trying to determine the motive behind the attack.
