Former truck driver, unemployed

Shot: Feb. 4, 2004

Where: Hillside Court

I went out … with my son and some of his friends to Hillside Court. I got out of the car [and] I went to holler at some friends of mine that I know. Some cars pulled up and people started to leave, and somebody said, “Stop, motherf—r!”

I was going to leave too. I proceeded to walk a little faster … back towards the car. When I got in the car, somebody came up to the window and started just beating on the window. I couldn’t put together what they were saying. I was terrified … I couldn’t tell whether it was a gun or a flashlight or what.

Then I heard and felt the most damaging thing that ever happened to me in my whole life. It picked me up and literally threw me into the front of the car. It felt like there was no way I could get out because every time I moved there was another shot. I just knew I was gonna die — I wasn’t gonna make it out of this.

I got shot five times, but they shot 20 to 30 times. I was hollering the whole time, “Please stop, please don’t shoot me, please stop!” That’s when someone was saying, “Motherf—r, get out of the car or I’ll kill you!”

“I can’t get out the car! My arm is broke, I can’t move my legs! I’ve been shot!”

“Get out the car or I will kill you! Let me see your hands!”

I’m trying to get my head up. All the windows were gone and I see the gun pointed at me. There was no safety. So I’m just crying, and at this time my body’s getting cold and wet and I know … I must be bleeding tremendously. I was shot in my shoulder, my back, my legs and lower leg, and I was terrified.

The pain was so tremendous … I couldn’t move my leg, I couldn’t move my back because they shot me right below my spine. It was like maybe somebody takin’ a hammer and sneaking behind you and hit you with it, something big and powerful that hit me.

Grace of God gave me strength. … After I got out, I’m scared and really I don’t know who this is yet. … I can hear the sirens and I’m so happy to be hearing police sirens. The police get there in the blue and white cars. … and I’m so glad to see them. … So now I’m wondering why [the people shooting me] aren’t getting handcuffed.

The ambulance came, and they’re telling me don’t close your eyes, don’t go to sleep.

[Afterward, in the hospital] I found out it was the police who shot me. Plainclothes police, undercover police. They never came and apologized, so I never knew who shot me until my family came by and told me.

I was just blessed to just walk again. I’m scared to sleep. I would keep the TV on all night because I’m scared to go to sleep. Every night — I’m talking about even last night — I have nightmares.

To this day, I don’t know why they did [it]. They never said, “It’s the police — Stop!” I didn’t know who they was, I wasn’t running from them trying to get away. They should have been prosecuted.

I’m not perfect, but I felt that they are worse than the people they are arresting. They shot me as a game, didn’t care about the consequences. They started shooting just ’cause their friend was shooting. If that’s not a game, you tell me what it is. S