WEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A woman recovering at the hospital after being shot by her ex-husband is speaking out on the incident.
Yudaisy Salgueiro, 47, was shot in the chest at her West Miami-Dade apartment, Tuesday afternoon.
From her hospital bed, she told 7News that she is in pain physically and emotionally, recovering from the situation.
“It was a complete shock”, Salgueiro told 7News in Spanish, adding they had been separated for the past year and barely spoke.
Salgueiro said she was taken aback by the whole ordeal because she always felt safe around him, never felt threatened, and even lived in the same apartment building, just one floor below.
“In the 10 years together, he was wonderful. I never thought he would do this to me”, she said.
But behind closed doors, it appears 50-year-old Javier Alpriza had not taken to the divorce well.
She told 7News Alpriza waited for her in front of the elevator when she got home from work and pulled the trigger, hitting her in the chest.
Thankfully, Salgueiro said, her ex’s gun jammed, and she was able to run away to a friend’s apartment and call 911.
That friend, Lasara Barbara, told 7News on Tuesday that she was in the right place, at the right time. She said she immediately hid her friend and locked the door.
“I was able to help her,” she said in Spanish. “It’s a miracle she made it in here alive. She had blood everywhere and was screaming, ‘I’m going to die.'”
The 75-year-old said she promised Salgueiro that she would protect her. She called 911 and put tight compressions on the wound.
While Salgueiro was hiding in the back room, Barbara said she heard Alpriza going wild in the hallway.
“He kept shooting everywhere, but I knew I had her safe,” said Barbara.
During his crash-out, he broke his in-laws’ apartment windows. Luckily, they were also in hiding.
Salgueiro said the bullet entered her chest near her heart and lodged into her back. Paramedics rushed her to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center by paramedics upon their arrival.
When Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived, Alpriza greeted them with gunfire, prompting a standoff between him and deputies.
Officials said responding deputies retreated to wait for their Special Response Team.
“Once SRT arrived on the scene, they conducted a sweep of the apartment and discovered the subject to be deceased,” said MDSO Assistant Sheriff Eric Garcia.
Neighbors were panicked as they heard the gunshots.
“I’m watching everything from my window, everybody is screaming, the police officers are screaming to everybody, ‘Get in the house, get in the house!'” said Cherlyn Menocal, who lives in the building. “And they keep aiming from the fourth floor, there were so many people screaming, it was just crazy outside.”
The sounds of gunshots led to fear and confusion.
“And it was very scary, because I didn’t know what was happening,” said area resident David Carillo-Pham.
Back at the hospital, Salgueiro said she feared not only for her life, but what he would have done to her family had the gun not jammed and he was able to keep shooting.
“I’m a little calmer now,” Salgueiro told 7News.
Salgueiro remains in the intensive care unit, but said she is just grateful to be alive.
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