Kalamazoo Uber Shooting Rampage Survivor Speaks Out
— -- One of the survivors of a deadly shooting spree in Kalamazoo, MI, allegedly carried out by an Uber driver, spoke out for the first time on Thursday, describing her struggle to recover from near-fatal injuries, but saying "I do not hate" the suspected gunman.
Tianna Carruthers, 25, a mom, spent weeks fighting for her life after being shot multiple times.
"I’ve been shot four times...," Carruthers said during a press conference. "My arm has been completely reconstructed... I still have a bullet lodged into my liver."
She was released from the hospital last month to continue her recovery at home.
“I’m struggling mentally, physically and emotionally," Carruthers said, flanked by doctors and hospital staff. “It’s hard trying to walk, trying to take care of my daughter. It’s not the same. Being in a wheelchair is hard.”
Doctors said that bullets fractured both of her femurs as well as her left arm. A fourth slug ripped through her right side and lodged in her liver, Dr. Thomas Rohs added.
"Over the next few days, her fractures were repaired and her overall condition stabilized,” he added.
Carruthers isn't struggling alone, according to family friend and former Kalamazoo city commissioner Eric Cunningham.
"The community has been coming together on her behalf," Cunningham told ABC News, "either taking her to her doctor appointments, fundraising and even looking to provide counseling to the children that she was protecting from getting shot."
Investigators said Carruthers was shot outside an apartment complex on Feb. 20 during the spree, which left six dead. The quick-thinking and heroic mom reportedly managed to yell out to her daughter and other children playing at a nearby park to run for cover.
Jason Dalton, 45, has been charged with the shootings which left six people dead. On March 3, he was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine his competence to stand trial.
Carruthers said she was "working on forgiving the man" charged with carrying out the heinous act.
“As far as the man who did this to me, I for some reason, I do not hate him," she said. "I do not hate him at all. I ask myself everyday why don’t I hate this man, but I don’t. Sometimes I get angry with myself, but I don’t.”
