A mother and her 10-year-old daughter are recovering after police said two men opened fire on each other in a “gun battle” Tuesday afternoon in east Las Vegas.
Stray bullets hit both the mom and daughter. Now, they said they are thankful to be alive.
The family was packing up their car after a shopping trip at Walmart. The mother, Samantha Tygrit, said her kids were in the back of the car when the gunshots started.
Tygrit was hit in the shoulder but ran to the back to protect her kids. She said her 10-year-old daughter, Aaliyah Inghram, had thrown herself on top of her 18-month-old brother and cousin to shield him from the bullets. In the process, Inghram was hit in the behind.
“I didn’t want the baby to get hurt so I like stepped in front of the babies. If I wouldn’t have stood in front of my brother, he would have been shot in the stomach,” 10-year-old Inghram said.
Inghram said it felt like she had been hit really hard, but she didn’t realize she was shot until she saw the blood.
“She saved her brother’s life yesterday, and my nephews, because they were both there,” Tygrit said. “Her little body could only shield so much. but she threw herself in front of them.”
