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Mother Speaks Out After Being Shot Through Shower Wall At Apartment In Fayetteville

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KFSM) — A mother of three who was shot in the shower at her own apartment is speaking out about the incident. 24-year-old Savannah Garcia wa...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KFSM) — A mother of three who was shot in the shower at her own apartment is speaking out about the incident.

24-year-old Savannah Garcia was unintentionally shot through her apartment wall after her neighbor, 22-year-old Andrew Witt, thought he was dry firing after cleaning his gun.

“I got shot, I don't know what happened. Just something hit me and I turned around and he saw all the blood coming from my back,” Garcia said.

She says she never imagined something like this would happen to her.

“I didn’t understand what had happened," Garcia said. "I bent down to get my loofah because it had fallen and when I bent back up I just heard a huge pop and my shoulder dropped to the ground. I just felt huge pressure.”

That pop was a 9mm pistol bullet that came through the wall of the adjacent apartment hitting Garcia in the upper right shoulder, just inches from her spine and head.

“I get out and I look in the mirror and I saw blood gushing from my back, I turned around and that's when I saw the hole,” she said.

According to a police report, Witt believed the gun did not have a round in the chamber when he pulled the trigger to dry fire at his wall.

“I’ve known about guns since I’ve grown up," Garcia said. "You always check the chamber. You shouldn’t dry fire on a second story apartment, regardless of anything. People are saying 'well he should have shot up,' Well it still has to come down.”

Garcia says she knows it was not intentional, but Witt took away her sense of security.

“I still hear the sounds of the pop because I’ve never heard a pop that way, that loud, that harsh," she said. "I still hear that at random times in my head. Rainwater sounds trigger me. I still have some dealing with mental wise for myself that I have to recover in my own way.”

Garcia's husband and her three young children were home at the time of the shooting. She says she usually bathes her children before herself but that day she didn't and says she's thankful she was hit and not them.

“I don't think my mind has fully processed, you were shot while taking a shower at your own home or where your kids stay at,” Garcia said. “I'm glad to be alive, I'm glad my kids still have a mom, I'm glad I can still hear the word mom.”

Witt was arrested for second-degree battery and is now out on bond.

The bullet is still lodged inside of Garcia's body, but will be removed Wednesday (Jan. 8).

Her family has started a GoFundMe account to help with medical expenses and help while she is out of work for about a month.

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