Theater Shooting Survivor Describes Taking Bullet to Protect Friend

ByABC NEWS ABCNews logo
Thursday, July 30, 2015

A teacher who survived a shooting at a movie theater in Louisiana last week described taking a bullet to protect her friend as she feared the gunman would kill her.

Jena Meaux shed tears at times as she spoke to thousands gathered for a prayer service Wednesday night. She was among nine people wounded when John Houser opened fire at a showing of "Trainwreck" at the Grand 16 Theatre in Lafayette, Louisiana, last week, killing two women before he killed himself.

"We instantly got down on the ground, and that's when I felt a bullet go through the side of my leg and exit the other side of my leg," she told the crowd.

Meaux said she immediately began crawling for the exit.

"As I crawled I was praying, because I really thought he was going to shoot me in the back of the head," she said.

Meaux said she eventually reached the exit, stood up and ran off.

"So many people are looking at the evil that was in the theater that night, but I saw so many instances of God's presence," she said. "He protected and spared my life, and that just tells me that he's not finished with me yet."

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