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A woman recuperating in a hospital has shared her experience with ABC7 after being injured during a shooting incident involving a CTA bus on Chicago’s South Side. The event unfolded on a Friday afternoon.
According to Chicago police reports, the shooting occurred around 3:30 p.m. on Friday, targeting a CTA bus in the 3900 block of South King Drive. An individual on the street opened fire, causing chaos and panic.
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Tamara Powell, who was among the passengers, recounted her ordeal. She was returning home from work on a CTA route she seldom uses. Just as the bus approached a stop in the Bronzeville neighborhood, she suddenly heard multiple gunshots. In an attempt to protect herself, she ducked, only to realize she had been hit in the leg.
Powell was just a few stops away from her destination but never completed her journey home that day.
Reflecting on the incident, Powell remarked, “It makes you think, and… definitely, like I said, it could’ve been worse.”
The 37-year-old mother was forced to take a frightening detour to the University of Chicago Medical Center.
“I have my headphones in,” Powell said. “I’m on the phone and all of a sudden I hear pop, pop, pop.”
Home surveillance video captured the Friday afternoon gunfire when Chicago police say someone began shooting at the crowded bus. People could be seen scattering from Pershing and King Drive.
“They tell me to get down on the floor. I realize I’ve been hit, and I see the blood start coming down my leg,” Powell said. “When I did get down on the floor, I was eye-level with one of the entry points of a bullet. So, if I had gotten down sooner… yeah, probably would be different.”
The shooting comes as the public transit agency is fighting to keep government funding with a newly revised safety plan waiting for federal approval. Just this week, Marquettia Johnson, the wife of a man killed in a December shooting on a Pink Line train in the Loop, shared her grief and frustration to CTA board members.
“Raymond didn’t choose to be murdered,” Johnson said. “He chose to get home to his family. And he never made it.”
Powell, who says she happens to work as a security guard for the same company contracted with the CTA, is also calling for safety reform.
“Needs to be more done, because currently it’s not enough,” Powell said.
SEE ALSO | Man found dead on CTA Blue Line train in the Loop, police say
Powell had surgery early Saturday and says it will likely be a few days before she’s released from the hospital.
The search for the shooter remains ongoing as Chicago police continue to investigate.
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