NYU NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans Police say that a woman who was shot three times is now getting better in the hospital.
Gunshots woke up people near Esplanade and North Johnson on September 9 just after 4 a.m.
Matt Norton said, “I heard three quick shots go off, and I could hear the woman pleading for help, saying she had been shot and that someone had taken her phone and her earphones or AirPods.”
Nya Harrison, who is 36 years old, said she was out for a walk that morning. It is one of her favorite spots to run and walk, she said.
Harrison said she broke her arm, her lung deflated, and she was shot in the leg again. During Hurricane Francine, she was at University Medical Center getting better after having several surgeries.
The police said the suspect asked for Harrison’s phone number. The suspect threatened to take her things when she would not give it to him.
According to police, he then went back to his car, got a gun, and fired.
Someone in Matt Norton’s neighborhood called 911, he said.
Norton said, “Hearing her voice from the balcony on the second floor was really kind of heartbreaking. Luckily, you heard the police sirens coming pretty quickly.”
Norton said that the cops and EMS got there in five minutes.
NOPD said the suspect had already run away up Claiborne Avenue toward I-10 by that time.
A 911 call took Harrison to the hospital.
“What saved my life is my dedication to fitness, and not fitness for vanity, but for self care,” he said. “I stay ready and that is exactly what I did.”
At the same time, neighbors said they want better cameras and more light for both homes and runners.