76-year-old woman wounded by stray bullet in Harlem speaks out

HARLEM (WABC) -- A 76-year-old woman wounded by a stray bullet from a shooting in Harlem is speaking out about her ordeal.

Harlem shooting victim in her own words

It started as a simple trip to the grocery store for Mildred Mahazu, who was walking along the sidewalk with a friend when gunfire rang out near the corner of West 140th Street and Lenox Avenue.

"I heard this pop, pop, pop," she said. "I felt my face, and I said, 'I've been shot,' and I ran."

Those same bullets also pierced the glass windows of the Key Food Supermarket, with Mahazu seeking cover inside the store while others rushed to help.

"I was bleeding profusely," she said. "Screaming and hollering and praying."

Across the street, the 19-year-old suspect had opened fire, first hitting 51-year-old Francis Norman, who police believe was the intended target. Another shot ricocheted off the windshield of an MTA bus and is believed to have then struck Mildred.

"There was a doctor in (the store)," she said. "She came to me and put a compression on my face to hold the blood back."

She was rushed to Harlem Hospital, where she was treated for a gunshot that went in her cheek and out the back of her neck.

"I heard the shots, and I felt it," she said. "Oh, did I scream, but I still didn't see anybody."

A former nurse who is strong willed and deeply religious, Mildred feels she has been blessed. Just a day before the shooting, she was singing "I am redeemed" at a special ceremony at the St. James Community Full Gospel Church for Apostle William Harrell's sixth anniversary as pastor.

"That's how fast things can happen in life," he said. "I'm glad that her request to sing for me was honored, because you never know."

And as Mildred recovers and is receiving what she says is excellent care at Harlem Hospital, she is anxious to go home. But as she wants everyone to know, not confined to her home.

"I feel like a person should be able to have their freedom to go out of their house," she said. "I don't want to stay in my house and just (have) somebody to go to the store for me when I can do it myself. I enjoy going outside."

Police have identified the suspect they are looking for, but no arrests have been made. They have released a wanted poster.

Anyone with information is asked to call authorities.