EXCLUSIVE: TV Reporter Survives Being Shot in the Mouth After Abusive Ex Rams Her Car and Drags Her Out at Gunpoint — Then Turns The Weapon on Himself
A TV reporter was shot in the mouth by an abusive ex after he rammed her car and attacked her before turning the gun on himself.
Dec. 18 2025, Published 7:00 a.m. ET
Tough-as-nails reporter Winnie Dortch is making headlines herself as she reveals the harrowing domestic-violence nightmare that left her fighting for her life, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Dortch, 34, who now works at WGN-TV in Chicago, recounts how she reconnected with her ex-high school sweetheart Bryant Carter, 34, in 2018.
The two began a six-year relationship, which included welcoming a daughter, Kaelie.
Romance Turns Violent
WGN-TV reporter Winnie Dortch said ex Bryant Carter subjected her and daughter Kaelie to escalating abuse.
At times, Carter could be "nice, sweet [and] funny," Dortch said.
But a dark undercurrent of violence and physical and verbal abuse clouded their affair – a pattern that escalated after he moved in with her and Kaelie, who were then living in Cleveland.
"I was called very vulgar names," she recalled. "I've been punched before, pushed, choked, yeah. It got so bad one time he went to my mom's house and threatened to shoot [it up]. It was mental abuse, making me feel like I didn't mean anything. It was physical, it was emotional, like taxing, because I did love him, and I wanted to be a family."
She finally moved out on Father's Day 2024.
That September, she landed the job with WGN-TV in Chicago – a move she says led Carter to angrily attack her at knifepoint outside a Lakewood, Ohio, McDonald's.
Luckily, she escaped with only scratches on her face. Then on October 7, 2024, after Dortch dropped Kaelie off at her daycare center, Carter appeared and repeatedly rammed her car with his vehicle.
The Horrifying Moment
Dortch said Carter rammed her car, shot her five times, then turned the gun on himself, she says.
Dortch said: "He [then] pulls me out of the car with a gun to my head. I get out and I ran back towards the preschool. I'm running for my life. Running. Running. All of a sudden, I fell to the ground, and I see blood everywhere."
Carter had shot her five times, including once in the mouth, then fatally turned the gun on himself.
Recovering From The Attack
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After more than a year recovering, Dortch said her survival story helps her relate to other gun-violence victims.
It took her more than a year to recover from the attack, but Dortch said she hopes sharing her tale of survival will inspire others to persevere and overcome.
"I do feel like the irony of this all – I do connect with victims, gun violence victims, shooting victims, because [I was] in their shoes," she said.
