Victim of Woodlands pub shooting identified by father, shares updates on son's condition

Father says son is strong and recovering

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas - "I think they are leaving three bullet fragments in him, that will be a part of his new hardware," said Brian Dowell. 

Brian Dowell is trying to smile through the pain of watching his son, 29-year-old Dylan Dowell, heal from multiple gunshot wounds. 

"My whole world has stopped. That's my baby, so it's hard," Dowell added. "And to wonder why what was so bad that we had to get to this." 

What we know:

According to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, they’ve identified the shooter as 27-year-old Calvin Rudi Sanders from Houston.

Calvin Rudi Sanders

Sheriffs say the motive stemmed from a verbal altercation that turned physical. Sanders allegedly pulled out a gun, hitting his intended target, and injuring two others. 

"Looking at him, he was shot in the leg once, the shoulder. No vital organs, nicked the lung, but they were able to go in with a chest tube and take the air out and the fluid out and the lung inflated. He did lose 90% of his large intestine," said Brian. "It ruptured inside of him. They are having to deal with infections, so when they brought him out of surgery around 8 clock Sunday morning, he is bandaged. We can't talk to him, he is intubated. He is breathing on his own." 

"This morning, when we got here, he was awake and alert. He can't talk to us," said Dowell. "He'd look around and give you the little wink, close his eyes, and shake his head, like not believing what's going on." 

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What's next:

Brian Dowell says his main goal is making sure his son will fully recover. 

"So I'm a big guns guy, I believe in carrying guns to protect yourself, but it does give me a different perspective," Dowell said. "It makes me think man before you shoot somebody, they've got a family behind them. They've got a family and the person who did the shooting, he's got a family as well. 

Sanders, the suspect, is currently in the Montgomery County Jail and is facing three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on a $300,000 bond.