A woman who survived being shot 10 times by her boyfriend says she still remembers the moment she realized the night could end in tragedy.
“I prayed inside my head like, ‘God please come be with me… please don’t let nothing happen to me,’” the woman said in a video recounting the ordeal that has since gone viral online.
The emotional account sheds new light on a deadly shooting in Hammond, Indiana, where two bystanders were killed after attempting to intervene during a violent domestic dispute.
A Night That Turned Violent
According to the survivor’s account, the night began with the couple visiting bars and later a casino. She said her boyfriend placed a large bet — about $10,000 — on a game of baccarat and lost.
When they returned to the car, tension quickly escalated.
“I didn’t say nothing because you don’t want to say nothing when somebody just lost a lot of money,” she recalled. “It was just silence in the car.”
She said the situation turned violent when her boyfriend suddenly accused her of being happy about the loss and struck her in the face while driving.
Moments later, she said, he demanded she call her father and ask for $10,000 to replace the lost money.
“He told me if I didn’t find the money, he was going to kill me,” she said.
Brutal Attack Outside a Bar
The woman said the argument escalated when the car stopped outside a bar and her boyfriend dragged her from the vehicle and began beating her.
A man who witnessed the assault tried to intervene, telling the attacker not to hit a woman.
Instead of backing down, the woman said, her boyfriend retrieved a firearm.
“When I heard him cock the gun, I just started running,” she said.
Authorities later identified the suspect as Caprice Cashaw.
Investigators say Cashaw had just left the Horseshoe Casino Hammond before the shooting.
Bystanders Who Tried to Save Her
Police say the shooting occurred outside and inside the Portside Pub around 4 a.m.
Two people who attempted to help the woman were killed.
Authorities identified them as bartender Paul Olivares, 25, and patron Lorraine Reyna, 59.
Court documents cited by WGN-TV say Olivares tried to usher the injured woman inside the bar, telling her to “get inside.”
The survivor said another woman also helped save her life by opening the door as she ran while wounded.
“If it wasn’t for them, I’d be dead right now,” she said in the video. “I want to say rest in peace to the two people that saved my life.”
Shot and Left for Dead
The woman said she was struck repeatedly as she tried to escape.
She recalled hopping on one leg after being shot in the side and eventually collapsing inside the bar.
“I fall under this table… I’m laying in a pool of blood,” she said.
Believing the gunman might return to finish the attack, she pretended to be dead while lying injured on the floor.
She later realized she had been shot in the liver and tried to apply pressure to the wound with her hand to avoid bleeding out.
“Now I’m like, ‘Is anybody up in here alive?’” she said.
Charges Filed
Prosecutors have charged Cashaw with two counts of murder and multiple counts of attempted murder related to the shooting.
Investigators say he admitted losing thousands of dollars at the casino shortly before the attack and later confessed to firing the shots.
The survivor was hospitalized with severe injuries but ultimately lived.
Her story has resonated widely online, where many viewers expressed grief for the two people who intervened and praised the woman’s resilience in speaking publicly about the attack.
A Story of Survival
In recounting the trauma, the woman repeatedly emphasized her gratitude to the strangers who stepped in during the attack.
“I wish it didn’t happen like that,” she said. “But I’m alive because of them.”
