Thursday, August 18th 2016, 10:18 pm
The woman caught in the middle of a gunfight after leaving her Bible study class Wednesday night is now out of the hospital.
Joyce Newton says a bullet went right through her chest and she’s in a lot of pain.
Newton remembers hearing the gunfire outside her church and then feeling like someone punched her.
Police say two groups started shooting at each other after fighting at a gas station across the street from World Won For Christ church near Virgin and North Harvard.
8/17/2016 Related Story: Tulsa Police: Bystander Hit By Bullet At Church Following Nearby Shooting
Newton said she remembers leaning over to unlock the door of her van to let her friend in Wednesday night outside her church; that was when the two groups started shooting.
"I seen everybody ducking down and when I sit up straight and when I did, I just grabbed where I felt like somebody punched me at," she said.
One bullet hit Newton in the chest and went right through her. Police found the round in her shirt at the hospital.
Newton said, “I could've been dead. That's what the police officer said."
She’s in a lot of pain and it's hard for her to relax after being shot. Newton never thought she'd be in the crossfire after leaving Bible study.
"Everybody in the area knows there's two churches sitting there. They seen us all getting out. They had to see people standing outside," she said.
Church members quickly condemned the violence after the shooting happened.
Another bullet went through the windshield of an SUV right before a man and his child started to leave.
Church member Joyce Cooper said, “It's just unbelievable. You're just leaving from a church Bible study service and then you're getting hit by a bullet."
Newton hopes police catch the shooters before anyone else is hurt.
"I just hate that they did that,” she said. “I mean, you can't even go to church nowadays, come on! Can't go to church and get out and get in your car? Now I'm really leery where I park now."
Police are working with a limited description of the shooters. Witnesses tell police they saw a silver car leaving on Harvard after the shooting.
August 18th, 2016
September 29th, 2024
April 15th, 2024
October 5th, 2024
October 5th, 2024
October 5th, 2024