--- description: Shetamia Taylor and her four teenage sons were marching in Dallas when she was shot. title: This Wounded Mother Shielded Her Son from Bullets in Dallas image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5a8ed93cdd3805f/69889b62cf40a80b90c43f1a/shetamia-taylor-shot-dallas-protest-police.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Mother Shot By Dallas Shooter Describes Her Battle to Save Her Sons  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 11, 2016 2:33 PM CUT  With sons and medical staff around her, Shetamia Taylor cried recounting the events of the Dallas shooting during a press conference in Dallas on July 10. With sons and medical staff around her, Shetamia Taylor cried recounting the events of the Dallas shooting during a press conference in Dallas on July 10.Marcus Yam—LA Times via Getty Images  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 11, 2016 2:33 PM CUT Shetamia Taylor and her four teenage sons [attended the march](http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-dallas-mother-20160710-snap-story.html "undefined") in Dallas after the deaths of [Alton Sterling](http://time.com/4395459/alton-sterling-baton-rouge-police-shooting/ "undefined") and [Philando Castile](http://time.com/4396256/minnesota-shooting-philando-castile-what-know/ "undefined") to peacefully protest the police violence that killed them. When [gunfire rang out](http://time.com/4397785/dallas-shooting-police-protest-snipers/ "undefined"), Taylor herself took a bullet while protecting her son. “I was just laying on top of him,” Taylor said about protecting her 15-year-old at a press conference, reports the Los Angeles _Times._ “If it was going to happen to one of my sons, it was going to happen to me first.” The group of five was [separated in the chaos](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/07/11/i-just-want-to-protect-my-family-mom-wounded-in-dallas-provides-human-shield-for-her-child/ "undefined"), with police helping two sons run to safety and a third son fleeing and receiving help from another woman. Meanwhile, Taylor felt a bullet hit her right calf and pushed her son to the ground to protect him with her body. “I’m just a mother and a wife,” she [said at the conference](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/texas-woman-shot-while-protecting-son-says-shed-march-again/2016/07/10/b6b0d016-46e2-11e6-8dac-0c6e4accc5b1%5Fstory.html "undefined") at Baylor University Medical Center. “I’m not an activist. I’m not a politician. I just want to protect my family.” Taylor also said her youngest son [wants to be a police officer](http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-dallas-mother-20160710-snap-story.html "undefined") when he grows up, and she thanked Dallas police for protecting her family during the shooting. \[[_LA Times_](http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-dallas-mother-20160710-snap-story.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4400884/shetamia-taylor-dallas-shooting-shield-son/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4400884/shetamia-taylor-dallas-shooting-shield-son/"},"headline":"Mother Shot By Dallas Shooter Describes Her Battle to Save Her Sons","datePublished":"2016-07-11T14:33:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:09:51.340Z","description":"Shetamia Taylor attended the protest with four sons when she was shot in the calf","url":"https://time.com/4400884/shetamia-taylor-dallas-shooting-shield-son/","keywords":["Crime","Dallas"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5a8ed93cdd3805f/69889b62cf40a80b90c43f1a/shetamia-taylor-shot-dallas-protest-police.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5a8ed93cdd3805f/69889b62cf40a80b90c43f1a/shetamia-taylor-shot-dallas-protest-police.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"shetamia taylor shot dallas protest police","caption":"shetamia taylor shot dallas protest police","creditText":"Marcus Yam—LA Times via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4400884/shetamia-taylor-dallas-shooting-shield-son/","name":"Mother Shot By Dallas Shooter Describes Her Battle to Save Her Sons"}}]}] ```