UNINCORPORATED BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – A 26-year-old woman watching Fourth of July fireworks at her brother's house was hit with a stray bullet late Thursday.
April Johnson was sitting in a chair near the street when she felt a sharp pain in her left leg, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office.
"I grabbed my thigh and my hand was full of blood, so I told my brother I had been shot," she said. "I have never been shot before but I have always heard it burns and it burned really bad."
"We were out here shooting fireworks and I was about to light one up when she screamed," added Jevon Johnson, April's brother. "I turned my head and she had my nephew with her in her lap and she said, 'I have been shot!'"
April said her brother, a former solider, then sprung into action.
"They laid me down and thank God my brother knew what to do. He grabbed his belt and tied it around my thigh to apply pressure until the paramedics came," she said.
Johnson was transported to and later released from Broward Health Medical Center. Doctors there didn't remove the bullet. She scheduled a follow-up visit for Saturday.
Johnson said she was worried about her 1-year-old nephew, Jacari, who was with her when she was shot.
"I got shot in my left thigh and he was sitting on my right thigh, so I was very concerned about my nephew," she said.
Johnson had a message for the shooter.
"I think it is stupid. I don't like guns. I don't own one. I don't want one and they sell blanks," she said. "I am very upset you ruined the Fourth of July for me. I will never celebrate it again. I will be home next year."
Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.