21-year-old college student who survived a gang-related shooting because her bra stopped the bullet hasn’t been able to sleep since
“I’ve had like three, severe panic attacks,” Daniesa Murdaugh told PIX11 News on Monday’s edition of the “Mary Murphy Files.”
“I haven’t slept since it happened. And I don’t leave further than off our block.”
Murdaugh was one of 12 people hit by bullets Saturday night during the annual Old Timer’s event in Brownsville.
A 38-year-old man was killed by a shot to the head and most of the other victims went to the hospital.
Now you’ve got to think, ‘Should I put on a bullet-proof vest today when I go out?’” Murdaugh wondered.
Murdaugh is studying liberal arts at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, and she’s thinking of switching her studies to culinary arts.
It was the first time she attended the Old Timer’s event, which her mother has enjoyed many times during the daytime part of the gathering.
“Little beefs escalate into violence in two seconds,” Murdaugh said. “Why should I have to walk the streets in fear because I could get hit by a stray bullet, because of two people who don’t know how to be men?”
Even though the NYPD has worked hard to confront gang-related shootings in Brooklyn, it’s been a tough road. The Police Commissioner said recently he’s been asking the District Attorney in Brooklyn to rethink his prison diversion programs when it comes to gun possession.
Daniesa’s mother, Odessa Watson, said it’s stressful living in multiple spots in Brooklyn.
“We heard shootings every night,” Watson said. “Every night. You can’t go to sleep some nights without hearing gunfire.”
The Police Department said shooting events are still not as common as they were in 1990.
“At its peak, there were 5,000 shootings. That’s 13 a day. Today, it’s about two a day,” Commissioner James O’Neill said.
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