A woman recovering from an injury sustained during a shooting on a CTA bus on Chicago’s South Side shared her experience exclusively with ABC7 from her hospital bed on Saturday.
According to the Chicago police, the incident occurred when someone opened fire on the bus around 3:30 p.m. on Friday. The shooting took place in the 3900 block of South King Drive.
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Tamara Powell recounted that she was heading home from work, using a CTA bus route she seldom chooses. Just as the bus stopped in the Bronzeville area, she heard gunshots. In an attempt to protect herself, she ducked, only to realize she had been hit in the leg.
Powell was only a few stops away from reaching her destination but never completed her journey.
“It really makes you think. It could have been much worse,” Powell reflected.
The 37-year-old mother had to be rushed to the University of Chicago Medical Center, a detour she never anticipated.
“I have my headphones in,” Powell said. “I’m on the phone and all of a sudden I hear pop, pop, pop.”
Home surveillance video captured the Friday afternoon gunfire when Chicago police say someone began shooting at the crowded bus. People could be seen scattering from Pershing and King Drive.
“They tell me to get down on the floor. I realize I’ve been hit, and I see the blood start coming down my leg,” Powell said. “When I did get down on the floor, I was eye-level with one of the entry points of a bullet. So, if I had gotten down sooner… yeah, probably would be different.”
The shooting comes as the public transit agency is fighting to keep government funding with a newly revised safety plan waiting for federal approval. Just this week, Marquettia Johnson, the wife of a man killed in a December shooting on a Pink Line train in the Loop, shared her grief and frustration to CTA board members.
“Raymond didn’t choose to be murdered,” Johnson said. “He chose to get home to his family. And he never made it.”
Powell, who says she happens to work as a security guard for the same company contracted with the CTA, is also calling for safety reform.
“Needs to be more done, because currently it’s not enough,” Powell said.
Powell had surgery early Saturday and says it will likely be a few days before she’s released from the hospital.
The search for the shooter remains ongoing as Chicago police continue to investigate.
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