Charlotte Man Gets DM’d on Instagram by Woman. Then He Drives Out to Her Complex To See Her—Now He’s Paralyzed From the Waist Down

Connecting with someone you’ve been chatting with online is always unpredictable. After all, these people are still strangers regardless of how long you’ve been in contact for. One North Carolina man is living proof of how danger can lurk in the shadows after trying to meet a woman who hit him up on Instagram.

Since April, TikTok creator Kamyrn Penny (@whiteboykamm0) has been documenting his recovery in physical therapy. In May, he triumphed against the 1% odds of regaining mobility in his legs by walking the stage with a walker at his high school graduation to accept his diploma and earned a standing ovation, per WBTV.

Now, he’s capturing the hearts of 2 million viewers, recalling the incident that led to this. “So, this is the story time on how I became paralyzed from the waist down,” he says.

An Instagram DM Started It All

“I was at work on January 19, and a girl had followed me on Instagram. She had [messaged] me. I followed her back and [messaged] her back,” he says. “We were [messaging] throughout the whole day while I was at work.”

After concluding his shift, the woman was persistently begging to meet up. Although he was hesitant, he agreed. His reaching out to her about it would sound off the first of several alarm bells.

“She doesn’t [message] me for an hour. She finally [messages] me back, says she’s ready,” the creator recounts. “Then, that’s when I’m on my way to go get her.”

What Happened Next?

Once Penny pulled into the apartment complex, he sensed something was off and decided to call the woman.

“Why am I at a front office in an apartment complex? You can’t share your location with me or send me your phone number or the address of your apartment?’” he remembers asking her.

Her response? “‘She kept on saying ‘no,’” he states.

As they argued in circles, he proceeded to raise a foreshadowing question: “‘You not trying to set me up or nothing?’”

Since the woman denied this, he still agreed to meet her and she instructed him where to go.

He continued, “She told me to turn left and go all the way to the end and blink my lights. Flick them when you get there.”

While the creator refused to flash his lights, he followed her directions. But it turned out the woman “accidentally gave the wrong directions.”

“‘Oh, I’m so sorry. I mean turn right and go all the way to the end,’” she amends.

Immediately, Penny’s senses spiked through the roof, dawning on him. “‘[Expletive], this is a setup,'” the creator recounts his thoughts in the moment, but brushed it off. “I don’t got nobody after me and nobody trying to k– me.”

After he parked his car, he headed upstairs only for no one to be there.

“I [messaged] her, ‘Where you at? I don’t see [anybody] outside,’” he recalls. “So, I call her, she [doesn’t] answer. I call her again, she [doesn’t] answer. I’m dumb as [expletive] for this setup.”

Things Take A Dark Turn

During his trek back to his car, he noticed and dismissed a man dressed in black standing next to his vehicle.

“I walk in front of my car, he turned around quick and put up a gun on me. He was like, ‘Give me everything you got,’” he recounts the man saying. 

Despite the attempted robbery, Penny refused to cave in.

“‘Nah, you have to k– me to get whatever you want from me,'” he remembers his response. “‘You’re not gonna take nothing from me.'”

Even when the man pointed the gun to the creator’s face and demanded to strip naked and dance, he still didn’t budge. Subsequently, he tried to walk to the front of the car; the man attempted to pistol whip him, which Penny dodged.

“I swear to God, tonight not going how you wanted to,’” he told the man.

The moment he turned around would alter his life. “He shot five times and only hit me twice,” he says. “He hit me in my back where my heart is and he hit me in my right thigh where my artery is. Then, I fell to the ground.”

Considering how the man fled and no one came to the creator’s aid, he accepted what he believed would be his fate. But his intuition prevented him from succumbing, urging him to crawl.

“So, I crawl and I’m looking around to crawl to something, and I see my keys,” he says. “I get to it, I make it to my phone and call the cops. I told them what happened, and they showed up.”

A Virtual Round of Applause

Penny’s story time amassed 1.8 million views, where many in the comments section praised his resilience and courage.

“Omggg i thank God you’re still alive,” one viewer commented.

“This is so sad, im so glad [you’re] able to tell your story,” another said.

“Glad you’re okay and healing, getting better,” a third stated.

Moreover, others pointed out the red flags from the get-go.

“Baby i counted 11 times you [were] supposed to turn around and go back home,” one commenter remarked.

“Why don’t we follow our instincts??? I’m so sorryyyy this happened to you,” a second wrote.

According to the Gaston Gazette, Shaquoia Thompson and Nicholas Cameron “were indicted by a grand jury for attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, robbery with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon” in March.

Should You Meet Up With Online Strangers In-Person?

Whether you’re talking to a person through social media sites like Instagram or dating apps, you can. However, you need to exercise caution since they are still a stranger. Therefore, CEOP Education recommends these safety measures to take for the meeting:

• Meeting up in a public space with Wi-Fi and phone signal reception
• Plan to go during the day and end the outing before dark
• Stay in touch with a trusted loved one when you arrive and leave
• Bring someone you trust with you
• Video chat prior to evaluate the person

Ultimately, listen to your intuition. If the person says or does anything you’re not comfortable with, plot your escape plan. Depending on the situation, you can opt for honesty or an excuse. Your safety matters.

@whiteboykamm0 Some things are just meant to happen, no questions asked, no god why me, no excuses chin up chest out yk, not much I can really do but give it all to god and show my dedication for what somebody took from me, one quick second changed my whole entire life but it’s okay because god is real, our Heavenly Father is a miracle ❤️‍??? Thank you all for the love and support?? #fyp #charlotte #explorepage #thankyoulord #storytime ♬ asl audio – Infinite Universe?

The Mary Sue reached out to Penny via TikTok direct message.

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