Two sisters having pizza with their 3-year-old niece have been identified as among the victims who survived a mass shooting in downtown Atlanta earlier this week.
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Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes spoke with Deborah Hardy, who said the day started out beautifully as a day out with family. They had stopped for lunch in the food court of Peachtree Center when the shooting began.
“It was so unreal. It happened so fast,” Hardy said. “And all of a sudden, I heard a ‘Pop! Pop!’ ya know, going like that. I didn’t even realize I had been shot. I looked at my sister, blood was running down to her shoe. I said, ‘You’ve been shot!’” she said.
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Hardy, her sister and niece took cover in a nearby restaurant, where workers immediately helped them.
“They just pulled us in there and I heard one of them say ‘Lock the doors,’’” Hardy said. “Then I heard another one say, ‘Close the doors. Lock the doors so he won’t come back in here and shoot again.’”
Hardy showed Fernandes the spot where the bullet hit her leg, explaining that it settled in the fatty area of her leg. Her sister was also shot in the leg, but thankfully their niece was not hit.
It could’ve been up here,” Hardy said, pointing to her head. “Could’ve been up here. I’m just blessed, ya know, truly, truly blessed.”
Hardy said that none of us know what will happen when we leave our homes for the day and advised people to love on their families and don’t take life for granted.
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