DETROIT – An elderly woman and her son were caught in the crossfire of a dangerous dispute they had nothing to do with on Detroit’s west side.
The 81-year-old woman battling cancer and her 61-year-old son went about their business inside their house when bullets started to ring out.
The son had to use his body as a shield to protect his mother.
“I went to grab the remote, and then I heard gunshots,” said Anthony McMillan. “That’s when I said, ‘wait a minute, something ain’t right.’”
McMillan spent the weekend in the hospital after he was shot four times, with one of the bullets going through his arm.
The incident occurred Saturday (Sept. 17) while he was helping his mother get to bed; that’s when a gun battle outside on Meyers Road near Joy Road, sending shots through the front window of his home.
“So, I got hit there (in the arm), and then they are still shooting,” McMillan said. “She (mother) stands up, and when I pushed her on the floor is when I got grazed right here.”
“As soon as we got ready to go up to bed, that is when all hell broke loose,” said the elderly woman.
McMillan said he pushed his mother to the floor and covered her body with his.
“He saved my life,” the elderly woman said. “God knows he did. I have proof.”
The family spoke out Monday, saying that the gunfire on their street had hit a boiling point, and they are pleading for help from the Detroit Police Department.
McMillan’s mother has cancer, so he is taking care of her. He says he needs help dealing with the danger outside of his home.
“I am going through enough,” McMillan said. I’m really going through too much. I do not need this extra going on out here.”
Detroit police say they are investigating the matter.