Times Square shooting: 23-year-old woman shot during chaos thought she'd never see daughter again
TIMES SQUARE, Manhattan (WABC) -- A tourist shot when bullets rang out in Times Square on Saturday afternoon said she thought she'd never see her 2-year-old daughter again.
Wendy Magrinat, 23, was back at her Rhode Island home recovering on Sunday afternoon. She spoke to Eyewitness News about the terrifying incident just one day earlier.
"I saw a police officer and I was screaming to him, I have a 2-year-old, I don't want it die, please help me, I'm shot please help me," Magrinat said.
She had a bullet lodged in her thigh and truly thought she would die.
"I kept saying to my husband please, take care of Elise, which is our daughter, please take care of her," she said.
RELATED: Times Square shooting renews calls for change to curb violence
The violence erupted just before 5 p.m. and Magrinat ended up in the middle of the chaos.
She was visiting the city with her family moments before she heard two men arguing in front of 1515 Broadway.
One of those men is now a suspect that police want to talk to.
Magrinat said she didn't like the vibe and told her husband to take everyone -- her mom, stepfather, daughter and 7-year-old sister -- and to go inside the store.
"I told him, 'hey baby, I think this is getting a little heated, just go a little bit in front, just in case they start saying bad words,'" she said.
But that turned out to be the least of her problems. Suddenly bullets started flying and she collapsed.
"I was able to run five steps and told my mom, take the baby and run," she said.
Her mother did, and they are both OK.
Another woman was shot in the foot and a 4-year-old shopping for toys with her family was hit in her calf.
Alyssa Vogul was identified by police as the officer seen in video carrying the child to the ambulance.
That little girl ended up in the same ambulance with Magrinat.
"She was so brave, wasn't even crying, she was amazing, she is brave," Magrinat said.
Magrinat said this was the scariest moment of her life and has a message for the gunman.
"It could have been your family, could have been one of you, and you don't want that," she said.
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