Gunshot victim seen shooting drugs in Facebook video
DETROIT (WJBK) - Disturbing video spreading on Facebook Tuesday of a man who's just been shot bleeding on a sidewalk in Detroit -- and he's about to inject himself with heroin.
He appears to be shooing people away witnesses trying to help him, asking them not to call an ambulance so he can shoot up.
The man shot in the leg lies bleeding on the corner of Boulder and Fairmont in Detroit. You would think his priority would be getting help at the hospital - then you see the belt tighten around his arm.
The incident happened Monday and police say the shooting was a result of a fight in the area. The victim was on parole with a lengthy criminal history.
At last check he is in the hospital in stable condition.
Addiction specialist Dr. Gerald Shiener says it’s a disturbing example of addiction's power.
"Addiction is a disease," he said. "People are self-destructive when they use drugs and they use drugs to destroy themselves not to indulge themselves."
The man is clearly aware that he is being recorded by someone's phone but would rather fight for a fix when he should be fighting for his life.
The doctor says we should also not ignore the way this person is being treated. Instead of calling for help, the phone starts recording.
"We see how horrible we treat people with this disease," Shiener said. "If someone else had a disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, a stroke, we would never think of leaving them on the street and live an underclass surviving from shot to shot."
Shiener says while this video is dramatic, it will hopefully have a positive impact in the long run.
"We can see how desperate people become," he said. "And we can come to see them as sick, and see drug use as a medical problem and start using public health measures to help them."
Recently police in the metro area have shifted their approach to combating heroin with the program in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties Hope Not Handcuffs which allow addicts to turn themselves in for treatment rather than jail.