MINNEAPOLIS — Stationed at a liquor store parking lot across from the north Minneapolis Cub Foods, Gloria Howard was a regular volunteer for gun violence prevention initiative 21 Days of Peace. She often served Sno Balls to people in the community.
"I loved being out there helping with that," she said.
June 16, while briefly running the Sno Balls stand alone, she was caught in the crossfire of a shooting.
"It just kept going boom, boom, boom, boom, boom," Howard said. "I saw all of these people coming towards me."
She says something told her to turn her body to the side. She believes she was struck just as she did.
"I fell to the ground, and when I fell, I immediately tried to get up, but I felt something really hot and I'm thinking to myself, 'Did I just get shot?'"
People rushed to her aid, including a woman she didn't know, who held a towel to Howard's wounds.
"She said, 'Don't worry about it, aunty,'" Howard said. "'We got you. You're going to be fine.'"
Remarkably, the woman was right. Howard survived.
"I ended up with four bullet wounds," Howard said of her injuries, which were all below the waist. "I was blessed because nothing internally was hit."
But pain lingers. Physically, Howard says she experiences back pain and sometimes struggles to stand for long periods of time. There's also the emotional trauma.
"I've been praying about this," Howard said. "I kept saying: Okay well God, look, there were so many people out there that day. Why me? What is my purpose and what am I supposed to do with this?"
She now knows what to do.
"I'm writing a book," Howard said. "It's going to be letters from families and individuals who have been affected by the gun violence … I want it to be dedicated to the victims and not make us victims but make us victorious."
With plans to involve a sketch artist, a list of resources, and an accompanying workbook, Howard believes writing could help not only herself heal but also the community as well.
"The individuals that's doing the shootings, I'd like for them to read it as well," Howard said. "Gun violence, this is our epidemic and we have to do something about it."
Howard is still deciding on a title for her book and how it will be distributed.
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