LEWISTON, MAINE: A Maine shooting survivor admitted being 'one of the lucky ones' even after she was hit by a bullet in the arm while hiding behind a bin during the bloodbath.
Jennifer Zanca, a former nurse, was having dinner with friends at the Schemengees Bar and Grille in Lewiston on Wednesday evening, October 26, when she suddenly heard the gunshots.
She turned around and noticed the suspect gunman Robert Card on a shooting spree that claimed the lives of 18 people and injured 13 in two mass shootings.
Zanca was forced to use her hand as a makeshift tourniquet as she was "bleeding pretty heavily."
What did Jennifer Zanca say?
"We all turned around and realized what was happening, we dropped to the ground and that's when I think I was shot in the arm," Zanca told WCVB from her hospital bed.
She quickly dropped to the ground and hid behind a bin as she desperately tried to avoid being killed. "I was one of the lucky ones, if the bullet had been in either direction, I would not have survived," she admitted.
Eight injured people have been hospitalized
According to Maine State Police, seven people died Wednesday night, October 25, at Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley among which six were male and one was female.
Eight more people, all male, died at Schemengees Bar and Grille. Three others breathed their last after being taken to hospitals. Card currently remains on large as authorities enter the second day of the manhunt.
Eight people injured in the Maine shootings remained hospitalized at Central Maine Medical Center on Thursday afternoon, October 26, officials said.
Hospital officials said five of the patients are in stable condition and three are critical. The hospital has not released the ages of the patients. All of the patients had been identified by late afternoon, said Dr John Alexander, the chief medical officer.
Alexander said the hospital is not used to dealing with this level of emergency care, but the staff was trained for it.
“It’s unprecedented in terms of the severity of the injuries and the tragedy to the community,” he said.
It comes after a hero doctor "sped through streets with hazard lights" after he got the call to return to Central Maine Medical Centre.
Dr Richard King was on his way home following a shift when just minutes later he was tasked with performing "damage control" surgery on a gunshot victim.
"It was a situation of organised chaos," Dr King said, adding "It was really quite surreal. We read about these events all too frequently, and then to be a part of one..."
He said it felt like "the entire hospital" rushed into the facility to help. "We just did what we would normally do, just at maximum capacity and with maximum effort. It was inspiring to see how all our staff responded, how everybody stepped up to the plate," he added.
