ATLANTA — Erin Ennis was one of four college students who were injured in a shooting in southwest Atlanta. Ennis was outside of the Atlanta University Center Library when she was shot in the leg.
"We heard one (gunshot,) and at first, everyone took a beat, and they were like, 'What was that?' and then another one happened and people were like, 'That’s not a part of the song. That’s an actual gunshot,” Ennis told 11Alive's Elwyn Lopez.
The 18-year-old student said there was a DJ playing at a block party nearby, celebrating the start of school. She said the song the DJ was playing at the time of the shooting had gunshot sounds to it which was why students, at first, didn’t know what was going on.
When the gunshots rang out, Ennis began to run. That's when she said she heard another gunshot.
"That’s when I felt my leg give out, and [at] first I thought it was just a really bad time to catch a cramp," she said.
Not knowing she had been shot, she said another student came to her rescue.
“A guy sees me and he’s like, ‘Yo, are you okay?’ and I'm like, ‘Yeah, I’m fine.' And he looks down and says, ‘No, you got shot!” and I was like, 'What?' And I look down and see all this blood trickling down my leg," Ennis said.
The theater major said she thought the bullet had just grazed her leg, but when she got to the hospital, she found out it was more serious than that.
“Oh, you got shot, and there’s a bullet in your leg," she said recalling what she was told.
More than a week later, the bullet is still there. She said doctors told her trying to remove it now may cause more harm.
But Ennis said she has no fear. She's back on campus and ready to start classes after Labor Day weekend.
"I feel like it just shouldn’t stop me for what I’ve wanted so long. I’ve worked so hard for it," she said.
Police are still looking for two suspects in the shooting. Neither suspect has been identified.