Innocent woman shot at Detroit fireworks: 'I have to live with this bullet everyday'

DETROIT (WJBK) - The woman shot just before Monday's Detroit fireworks downtown continues her road to recovery.

Chiquita Keen-Johnston is now home from the hospital, with the bullet still lodged right above her right hip, and a reminder of what happened.

"It's in what they call the flank of my side and it's stuck there," Johnston said. "And I have to live with this bullet every day."

More than the physical pain, the memories she says, are too hard to bear.

"You ruined what I was trying to make a tradition for my family," she said. "Because I have little grandkids (and) now I don't want to go down there and neither do they. They already said they don't want to go down there anymore."

CLICK HERE to donate to Johnston's GoFundMe page.

Johnston has had an outpouring of support since she was randomly shot in a crowd across from Hart Plaza, waiting for the fireworks. Right before her release, she was paid a visit by Chief James Craig.

"It felt really good to just know that he is paying attention," she said. "And I told him how fantastic the Detroit Police Department did and the EMTS."

"That meant a lot to me and that's something I'm certainly going to communicate to my staff," Police Chief James Craig said.

Police say they're looking for two young men wearing red shirts that were seen arguing before the gun went off.

"We are still very actively investigating, we are scouring through lots of video," Craig said. "(We are) certainly inquiring and asking for the public's help. We believe and we know, somebody knows."

Police are also still looking for suspects in another shooting of two 17-year-olds inside a car taking place after the fireworks at Fort and Cass. One teen was shot in the arm, another in the stomach. That shooting is said to also be the result of petty arguments.

MORE COVERAGE:
2 shooting incidents during fireworks in downtown Detroit
Second shooting reported downtown with two 17-year-olds wounded
Young people's access to guns an issue, police say after Detroit fireworks violence

"Whatever the problem was you could've solved it another way," Johnston said. "Please turn yourself in. I had nothing to do with whatever you were angry about. But I got hurt and you could've taken a child."

If you know anything about who the shooter is, you're better off telling Detroit police (313) 596-5200 now, they say it's only a matter of time until they locate the man responsible and bring him to justice.