I Was in a Shooting...

"What is more deadly, a gun or a thought? A gun gives you an opportunity, but the thought pulls the trigger." —A.B.

What Happened

This happened on January 19th, 2019 at around 10:00 PM. My boyfriend (Joey) was playing one of his games on Xbox and I was laying on the bed going through my notifications on my phone when we heard four gunshots go off. I instantly looked wide-eyed at Joey as he took his headset off. He quickly got our son in the back of the house with my younger daughter, went into his safe to grab his shotgun, and went to the back yard to tell his grandmother to get inside and lock the doors. When he got to the back yard, he saw the car drive away and heard the man screaming because he had gotten shot.

He came back in saying, "A man got shot, he's screaming outside. I have to go help him."

He took his first aid pack, a flashlight, and his pistol just in case those people came back. And then went through the front door to help the man two houses down from us.

He came back a minute or two later asking, "Where's my belt, where's my belt?"

He had to stop the bleeding in the man's leg, he got shot three times out of the four shots we heard.

When he went back to help, his friend called, who only lived a couple houses down to the right of us, asking, "What happened?"

I filled him in with the details and he walked over. I then called my sister in law, who lives next door to tell her everything that just happened, I was shaking. I have never gone through anything like this in my life.

Joey's sister and grandmother walked outside as I joined them, kids still in the back of the house. We looked over the wall next to our house and saw five cop cars there helping the guy and Joey there telling them what happened. Two ambulances showed up shortly after and took the man to the hospital.

Joey comes back saying that the guy told him, "I was just walking back home from work and decided to take the alleyway as a short cut, then I saw a car and I started getting shot at."

At that moment, it really hit me. It made me think how it could have been anyone of us, if we had been there at the wrong time. It also made me realize how vulnerable we are in situations like those...

How I Felt

I felt helpless during all this, I stayed in the back of the house with the kids during all this. I stayed calm for the kids because I didn't want to worry them or get scared. I brought some toys in the back so my son could play with them and keep his mind off of what was going on. I have heard gunshots in the distance, which is still scary but nothing like hearing them next to your house... I was also scared for Joey, despite knowing he was doing the right thing with helping that poor man, it still scared the hell out of me. When he went out there the second time with his belt, I couldn't help but think those people were going to come back again. Thankfully, they never did. The police stayed out there long after the incident, of course, to patrol and block off the area. It really gave me more peace of mind, but anytime I go outside I defiantly look at my surroundings to see what's going on.

Joey also mentioned how there was a neighbor there on the phone with the police just watching the man bleed out as Joey was helping the man. This made me think a lot. If we didn't have kids, best believe I would be there right by his side helping this poor man. The fact that people would rather stand there and watch, instead of trying to help really shows what kind of people there are in this world.

I'm so thankful that our family is safe, and for having such a selfless partner. Who would go out of his way to help people and do the right thing? I'm beyond grateful for Joey and what he does for our family. That day really showed how brave and selfless he truly is.

What I Think

I don't want to get too political here, but this is honestly why I believe citizens (as long as they pass the proper way to owning a gun) should have one! Imagine if we didn't own any guns and it happened to be us? We wouldn't have any way to defend ourselves let alone have a chance to survive if there weren't any bystanders willing to help us... I believe we the people should be able to have the right to defend ourselves during situations like these. Times like these, we have every right to own one.