Ybor City shooting: 20-year-old shot in the leg hopes for justice as she recovers in the hospital
YBOR CITY, Fla. - Two families are planning funerals for their loved ones killed over the weekend in the Ybor City shooting that sent crowds there into chaos.
Some of the victim's injured by gunfire still remain in the hospital – including 20-year-old Kila Ryker.
Ryker and her friend, Emily Perez, dressed up in costumes to walk around the Ybor strip and socialize. Just after 2 a.m., they were ready to head home and began to walk to Ryker's car when the gunfire started.
Two bullets hit Perez in the back and leg.
"Some things I just don’t remember, but I do remember trying to get to my friend Emily, because I remember hearing the gunshots thinking 'oh I have to get to her," Ryker said.
Moments later, Ryker's leg was struck by a bullet.
"I guess where I got shot in my femoral artery, I was bleeding so much. Strangers were trying to keep me up and drag me to get up. But I was bleeding so much I kept falling down," she said.
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Ryker said those strangers saved her life by wrapping her wound.
"I felt like I could have been the third victim [that was killed]. I was literally bleeding out," she said. "If those people didn’t stop, I would have been gone."
Since that night, Ryker received a blood transfusion and underwent two surgeries. She said life will never be the same for her.
"Some of us have to relearn to walk. Some of us have to relearn a lot of things," she said. "I have to relearn my mobility. I have to wiggle my toes every couple of hours to make sure that my leg is working. I was not picturing this was how it was going to be. I have to take medicine for the rest of my life now because of this."
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The Tampa Police Department is continuing to search for two additional suspects after arresting one. The 20-year-old hopes for justice and that detectives catch the two suspects or they turn themselves in.
"I want them to admit that they were wrong. I don’t feel any remorse. They deserve what’s coming for them. They need to be put away," she said.
Ryker said Perez was recently released from the hospital and is now recovering at home.