Kindergarten teacher left with bullet lodged in her lung after Bronx shooting
A Long Island teacher is trying to figure out how to live with a bullet lodged in her lung after a recent shooting in the Bronx.
It happened just days before she was set to welcome her kindergarten class for the new school year.
"This is the first time I'm not there to welcome my students on the first day"
Jaylen Murray was shot when bullets started flying during a back-to-school community basketball game at Haffen Park on Aug. 23.
"No more than two minutes before the shooting happened, I was still talking to a kid about his new Adidas book bag that he had won," the 29-year-old said.
Murray said the bullet went through her arm and into her lung.
"It hasn't really been easy. A lot of difficult, painful nights," she said. "A lot of discomfort in the chest area, too, but I'm happy to be alive."
Thursday was the first day back to school for students in Suffolk County, where Murray lives and works, but she wasn't able to be there.
"It makes me very sad, to be honest with you. I've been a teacher for the last five years, and this is the first time I'm not there to welcome my students on the first day," she said.
"You could be ending a teacher's life. You could be ending a mother's life"
Murray said her road to recovery will be slow and steady.
"Very faithful to be back soon. I do miss my kiddos, but it's very unfair that I'm not there with them today because of senseless violence," she said.
She hopes by sharing her story, people will think twice before resorting to gun violence.
"You could be ending a teacher's life. You could be ending a mother's life. It's not worth it," Murray said. "There's just so much more to live for."
There were four other victims in that shooting: a 32-year-old Bronx man who died from his injuries, a 17-year-old girl who remains in critical condition, a 31-year-old man who was shot in the back and a 42-year-old man whose arm was grazed by a bullet.
Four suspects, ranging in age from 17 to 25, have been arrested in connection with the shooting.