‘Wrong place, wrong time’: Man recovers from being attacked while jogging in Murfreesboro

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WKRN) — A man is out of the hospital after surviving a brutal attack.

Anthony Ashley was running last month in Murfreesboro when he was stabbed by an unknown assailant; police still don’t know who’s responsible.

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“I chalked it down to wrong place, wrong time,” Ashley told News 2.

Ashley said that he was running his usual route near Medical Center Parkway on July 11. He had run for about two miles when a man came out of the bushes and knocked him off his feet. Once Ashley stood up, the unknown assailant stabbed Ashley five times before running away.

“It felt like was an hour, but it was only twenty minutes or so,” Ashley said. “Just the loneliness of, ‘Is this it? Is someone else coming to attack me again? Am I going to die here?’ A bunch of emotions were running through my head at the time.”

Ashley said that the attack was random. Murfreesboro police are checking nearby surveillance footage to try to find the suspect.

“I’ve run this route maybe 10, 15 times and never expected anything like this to happen,” Ashley said.

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Ashley said that he was wearing headphones when it happened. He recommended that runners wear just one headphone, let someone else know your route and run in groups. He added that police were able to collect his attacker’s DNA because of the fight, but no arrests have been made so far.

Ashley said that he’s been out of work because of the physical and emotional trauma from the assault. A GoFundMe has been set up to help him during this time of healing, and you can donate here.

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