ATLANTA, Ga. — A 102-year-old woman was in the waiting room of a midtown medical office when an alleged gunman opened fire, killing a woman and wounding four others.
Clara Bridges sat down exclusively with Channel 2 Action News to tell her story.
Bridges told Channel 2′s Tom Jones said she heard gunshots and saw people falling to the floor on Wednesday, when police say Deion Patterson started shooting.
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“And I said, ‘In the name of God, I can’t die. I can not leave my children,’” Bridges said.
Bridges, whose family calls her Aunt Baby, had just returned to the waiting area after seeing her doctor.
“I was just getting myself in a seat to be comfortable, and then ‘Pow! Pow! Pow!’” she said.
Bridges’ niece, Carmen Point-Kelly was there with her aunt and needed to go to the bathroom before leaving the office. Someone was in the seat she normally puts Bridges in, so Point-Kelly helped her aunt to another seat in the corner and walked out of the room.
“And the same chair that I usually put her in, that lady was laying on the ground,” Point-Kelly said. “She got shot in her farm.”
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Point-Kelly also saw the person who was killed, 38-year-old Amy St. Pierre.
Bridges said she thought about running during the shooting.
“But I didn’t have a chance to do it because another nurse came in the door, and she had been shot,” Bridges said.
Point-Kelly said she called 911 from the bathroom. She was frantic, not knowing if the gunman shot her aunt. Then, an officer took her to see Bridges.
“We just hugged each other, and all I could see was all the bodies on the ground,” Point-Kelly said.
Bridges said God covered her and kept her alive.
“In the name of God, in your holy name, we thank you,” Bridges said.
Bridges said her heart goes out to the victims, and she is applauding police for how they handled the incident.
Bridges has had several brushes with death, even getting hit by a bus. And now, this.
The four victims who were wounded are still recovering. Two remain in the intensive care unit.
Patterson was arrested in Cobb County after an hours-long manhunt. His mother told Channel 2′s Sophia Choi that he was upset that his doctor would not give him a prescription for Ativan, an anti-anxiety drug.
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