CBS2 Exclusive: School Safety Officer Recalls Being Struck By Stray Bullet Outside Bronx Home
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A woman who spends her days protecting children was shot outside of her Bronx home.
Barbara Thompson has been a school safety officer for 22 years, but last Friday her own safety was put in jeopardy.
"I heard what I thought was firecrackers, because up here in this area, they do the firecrackers early every year," she said speaking exclusively with CBS2's Valerie Castro.
Thompson came home late after working some overtime at P.S. 11 in Brooklyn. The firecrackers she heard turned out to be gunfire on Valentine Avenue near 198th Street in the Bronx.
She felt a sharp pain in her leg when a stray bullet hit her just below the knee.
"It went in right here, right here in the front, and it came out over here," she said.
Thompson said she fell to the ground and crawled between two cars to hide.
"A lady was passing, I said, 'Please call 911, I've been shot.' She said, 'Miss, you've been shot?' and right away she called on her phone," she recalled.
Thompson said that's when another bystander stepped in.
"A man took off his shirt and made a tourniquet, he tied it on my leg," she said.
That man was Juan Calderon who said he was walking by when he saw Thompson on the ground.
"I'm a citizen, I just wanted to help, you know? It could have been my mom on the floor. It could have been your mother," he said.
Thompson was having some trouble walking while she heals, but considers herself lucky when she thinks about the shooting in Orlando.
"My injury is nothing compared to those people who lost their children and lost their lives. Nothing in comparison," she said.
As for the person who fired the shot, she said: "I'm not mad at anybody. I don't have anything against anybody, this is the world we live in."
Thompson said her recovery will keep her away from work for the next two months, she'll be catching up on her favorite shows in the mean time.
