I SURVIVED: I Tried To Yell But My Jaw Was Shattered

Summary

Cold Case Files — "I SURVIVED: I Tried To Yell But My Jaw Was Shattered"

Podcast: Cold Case Files (A&E / PodcastOne)
Date: February 21, 2026
Host/Narrator: Marisa Pinson
Main Theme: Survival during unimaginable violence — Mass shooting and intimate partner assault, told first-hand by those who lived through horror.

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Episode Overview

This episode of Cold Case Files centers on two harrowing stories:

1. The 1991 Luby’s Cafeteria mass shooting in Killeen, Texas — the deadliest U.S. mass shooting at the time — told through survivors Kirby and Susanna.
2. Reagan’s escape from an attempted murder by her ex-partner Eric, a story of resilience against intimate partner violence.

Both segments emphasize the randomness and ferocity of violence, the gut-wrenching choices survivors face, the trauma endured, and the dogged will to live and testify.

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Part 1: The Luby’s Cafeteria Massacre (October 16, 1991 — Killeen, Texas)

Scene Setting and First Realization ([01:07 – 05:43])

• Kirby describes a crowded cafeteria, small talk, and then the sudden horror of a blue Ford truck careening through the restaurant’s window.
• Susanna is there with her parents: “All of a sudden this truck came blasting through a floor to ceiling window maybe 15ft from me.” (03:30)
• Initial moments are marked by confusion, then terror as the driver becomes a shooter.

Quote ([05:08] Susanna):

“I was still looking for an explanation, some reason for this guy doing what he was doing. It took a good 45 seconds, which is an eternity, to figure out that this guy was simply going to walk around and murder people.”

The Attack Unfolds — Chaos and Survival Tactics ([05:43 – 14:18])

• The gunman methodically walks through the restaurant, shooting at random.
• Kirby tries to help but is pinned down: “People were pushing their tables over and ducking behind the tables. And it just went like flash, instant chaos.” (04:11)
• Susanna and her family use a table as a barricade.
• Susanna regrets not having her gun: "My gun was 100 yards away out in my car, because... what are the odds of my needing it in the middle of the day in a crowded restaurant?" (06:22)
• Multiple attempts to intervene are met with deadly force — Susanna’s father is shot when he tries to stop the gunman ([09:30]).

Quote ([07:25] Kirby):

“Imagine your worst horror. This guy was horrible looking. I mean, his face was tight, it was drawn, and you could... the eyes were just unbelievably white and large.”

The Shooter’s Terror and Small Acts of Humanity ([10:24 – 14:18])

• The shooter directs rage at women, screaming misogynistic insults:
  "Calling them all vipers and bitches. And look what the women of Bell county has done to me. Is this worth it? I'll make you all pay. I'm going to kill you all." (08:37)
• He lets a mother and child go after threats — “the only act of humanity the man had.” (10:24 Kirby)
• Descriptions of violence are unflinching: direct gunshots, people dying instantly, efforts to help wounded friends become impossible.

Escape and Police Response ([14:18 – 22:17])

• Susanna finds an escape route (“An unlikely hero had thrown his own body through that window to create an escape route.” [14:18]) and flees, realizing her mother stayed behind with her dying father (17:03–18:07).
• Police arrive and engage in a shootout.
• Kirby survives a near-execution only because the gunman misses at point-blank range (“The jerk missed me.” [15:18]).
• The gunman, George Hennard, commits suicide after a final gunfight with police.

Quote ([21:09] Kirby):

“I was shot in the back, actually it was in the upper hip and it came out my stomach... Missed my backbone by half inch. Missed all the major nerves, missed all the major arteries, but yet it was life threatening... But everything's healed up, everything works and everything's good now. Just an ugly scar.”

Aftermath and Reflection ([21:54 – 23:47])

• Susanna’s mother is executed beside her dying husband ([21:54]).
• Survivor’s reflections:
  • Susanna: “I think I survived because my father helped alter the gunman's course. Gave me a few extra minutes.” (22:28)
  • Kirby: “I believe I survived because of divine intervention. The guy was a merchant marine... There's no way he should have missed me point blank.” (22:44)
• Both recount the heavy toll: Kirby loses seven friends; Susanna, both her parents.

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Part 2: Reagan Survives a Brutal Domestic Assault (June 2009 — Rochester, NY)

Relationship Downfall and Escalating Threats ([23:47 – 28:41])

• Reagan recounts an on/off relationship with Eric deteriorating after failed co-parenting.
• Eric’s behavior becomes erratic and menacing, culminating in him moving into Reagan’s basement to maintain contact with their daughter.
• Tensions rise over custody, jealousy, and Reagan’s new boyfriend Dan: “Eric would have this look, this look in his eyes I've never seen before. It was like a crazed animal. I feared for my life.” (26:36)

The Day of the Attack ([29:07 – 34:32])

• On a Sunday during a custody exchange and housework, a confrontation ignites between Eric and Dan.
• Eric strikes Dan in the head with a pry bar, then attacks Reagan.
• Vivid, chilling details:
  • “I heard bone. Dan's body fell to the ground... I thought Dan was dead, and I'm pretty sure Eric possibly thought the same thing. Eric went over to Dan's body, put his foot on his chest, and removed the pry bar out of his head.” (31:09)
  • Reagan is kicked in the face: “I actually felt my jaw shift and my teeth shatter.” (31:49)
  • She’s pursued onto the lawn as Eric beats her with the metal bar again and again.

Quote ([34:32] Reagan):

"I tried to yell, but I don't think I was very successful at it, being that my jaw was shattered at that point. But I just remember I was trying to yell."

The Children Witness and Help ([34:37 – 37:19])

• Reagan’s 10-year-old son witnesses the attack and pleads for it to stop.
• “He had enough self control in the middle of attacking me with a pry bar to stop and answer my son... because your mother told Dan to beat me up.” (34:37)
• Her 6-year-old daughter runs for help, alerting a neighbor and calling 911 (“Someone call 911. My mommy's gonna die.” [35:44])
• Eric flees the scene; first responders arrive.

Survival, Aftermath & Justice ([37:22 – 39:33])

• Both Reagan and Dan are critically injured:
  • “The first time that I actually felt significant fear for my life was when I begged to the paramedic, please just let me pass out. It hurts so bad. I just want to pass out. And she said to me, if you do, I can't promise you'll ever wake up.” (37:22)
  • Dan suffers permanent, life-altering brain injury.
• Eric is arrested a month later, convicted of assault and attempted murder, sentenced to 40 years.
• Reagan reflects on her survival for her children and the need to bear witness:
  • “I survived for my children... and kept the memory of everything because I wanted Eric to pay. He was not going to get away with it.” (38:29)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Kirby (07:25) on seeing the shooter:
  “Imagine your worst horror. This guy was horrible looking. I mean, his face was tight, it was drawn, and you could... the eyes were just unbelievably white and large.”
• Susanna (05:08) on realizing the intent:
  “It took a good 45 seconds, which is an eternity, to figure out that this guy was simply going to walk around and murder people.”
• Kirby (15:18), near execution:
  “He bent over and put the pistol against the soft spot right in the back of my head... And then. Explosion. It was so loud... I literally said it to myself. I said, the jerk missed me.”
• Kirby (21:09) on his injuries and luck:
  “Missed my backbone by half inch. Missed all the major nerves, missed all the major arteries, but yet it was life threatening... But everything's healed up, everything works and everything's good now.”
• Reagan (31:49) during her attack:
  “I actually felt my jaw shift and my teeth shatter.”
• Reagan (34:32) as she escapes:
  “I tried to yell, but I don't think I was very successful at it, being that my jaw was shattered at that point. But I just remember I was trying to yell.”
• Reagan (38:29) on survival and testimony:
  “I survived for my children... and kept the memory of everything because I wanted Eric to pay. He was not going to get away with it.”

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Timeline & Timestamps

• [01:07] Introduction to mass shooting in Killeen, Texas
• [03:03] The truck smashes into the cafe
• [05:08] Realization: “He’s killing people for no reason”
• [07:25] Description of the shooter; failed intervention
• [10:24] Gunman’s “mercy” act — letting mother and child go
• [14:18] Susanna’s escape through broken window
• [15:18] Kirby’s near-execution
• [21:09] Kirby reflects on his survival and injuries
• [22:17] Conclusion to the Luby’s story and death toll
• [23:47] Reagan’s story begins (2009, Rochester, NY)
• [26:36] “I feared for my life” — escalating threats
• [31:09] The violent attack on Dan and Reagan
• [34:32] Reagan’s attempted escape, severe injuries
• [34:37] Her son’s plea — “Don’t hurt my mommy”
• [37:22] Paramedic’s warning — “If you pass out, you may never wake up”
• [38:29] Reagan’s reasons for surviving
• [39:33] Episode transitions out

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Conclusion

This episode delivers a raw, gripping account of survival against the odds — from a mass shooting that shattered families and community, to the intimate terror of domestic violence. The voices of Kirby, Susanna, and Reagan hold nothing back: from the chaos and carnage, to guilt, loss, and the deep instinct to live for others. Their testimony is solemn but hopeful, a tribute to resilience and the human spirit.

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Trigger warning: The episode includes graphic depictions of violence, murder, and domestic assault, as told by the survivors themselves.

Transcript

[Reagan]

Alaska is a killer's playground.

[Narrator]

ID presents a new documentary event from executive producer Octavia Spencer.

[Susanna]

Only the frozen land knows the truth

[Reagan]

of Alaska's lost women.

[Narrator]

A shocking investigation leads to a sadistic killer.

[Kirby]

I witnessed somebody being killed on video.

[Narrator]

But his arrest is only the beginning of a far deeper horror.

[Reagan]

Are there more Alaska Native women that are victims?

[Narrator]

Lost Women of Alaska, a new documentary event February 25th on ID or stream on HBO Max.

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[Narrator/Scene Description]

This episode contains subject matter that may be disturbing to some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.

[Kirby]

Imagine your worst horror. This guy was horrible looking. I mean his face was tight, it was drawn and you could the eyes were just unbelievably white and large.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

Real people.

[Reagan]

And he would get right in my face and he says, what are you going to do? You can't get rid of me. There's nothing you can do.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

Who faced death?

[Susanna]

He was just walking from one person to the next, taking aim and pulling

[Narrator/Scene Description]

the trigger and lived to tell how.

[Kirby]

He would just reach under the table and grab them by the hair and put a gun to their head and scream at him, tell me, was it worth it?

[Narrator/Scene Description]

This is. I survived. It's October 1991 in Killeen, Texas. Susanna is working at her chiropractic clinic.

[Susanna]

It was a beautiful fall day and I had just finished up with my patients that morning and my father and mother came in from the local golf course and asked if I'd like to go eat at the cafeteria. The place was packed, more so than usual, so we weren't able to sit in our usual spot and we went and sat off by a wall.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

Kirby, a local pastor, was at the same cafe with his friend Mike.

[Kirby]

The place was full. There was about one hundred and sixty people there that day, I believe. And we sat at a little two man table over against a window. There were two big plate glass windows and sort of a small brick column between it. Mike and I began this kind of different conversation and he was telling me about a funeral. He had just been to and how well it was attended. And so he began to half jokingly say that if I were to die, that, that there'd probably only be two or three people show up at his funeral and that would be his family. I looked at him and said, mike, you're my buddy. I love you. I'll be there at your funeral if anything ever happens.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

Kirby heard the noise of squealing tires coming from the parking lot.

[Kirby]

I looked to my left out the plate glass window. I saw the blue Ford truck as it made a circle around past my truck and was headed straight for the window behind Mike. As I saw him coming, I could see his eyes. They looked like fried eggs. They were just white, almost no pupil. Look. I've never seen anything quite like it. I thought it was a lot of fear because I figured his accelerator had stuck.

[Susanna]

All of a sudden this truck came blasting through a floor to ceiling window maybe 15ft from me. It happened to be right where we normally see. Of course I thought it was an accident. The truck came all the way in. He knocked over a number of tables and people were knocked over and injured. As the truck came to arrest and it was still bouncing on its shock absorbers. It came in at such a great pace and stopped so abruptly.

[Kirby]

So I jumped up. I first aid and CPR certified and so I jumped up to run around because there was an old couple sitting there at that, that plate glass window. As I circled around the left hand corner of his tailgate, all of a sudden his left arm came out with a 9 millimeter Glock semi automatic. And there was a female cashier standing there. And he shot her twice in the chest, like threw her backwards. I couldn't believe what was going on. And with his other hand, apparently he opened the car door and started getting out. And as he was getting out, I'm standing there facing him, you know, like five foot from him. But he started firing down the serving line, which was at a probably a 40 degree angle from where he was standing. As fast as he could go. He was just shooting down the firing or down the serving line, making people, you know, trying to take control of the room. People started screaming and you could hear the wailing and people yelling, I'm hit, I'm hurt. People were pushing their tables over and ducking behind the tables. And it just went like flash, instant chaos. And everybody flipped into survival.

[Susanna]

My father and I immediately got down on the floor, put the table up in front of us. My mother got down behind us, up against the wall. So I was expecting this Gunman to say something like, this is a robbery. Everybody put your wallets up on the table, Something like that. But we just kept hearing gunshots. So I was still looking for an explanation, some reason for this guy doing what he was doing. It took a good 45 seconds, which is an eternity, to figure out that this guy was simply going to walk around and murder people.

[Kirby]

The truck was blocking the middle of the restaurant, so to speak. The entrance was right there by the truck. And then where he drove through was next to the entrance. So there was no way to get out that way without being shot. The only exit was in the back of the restaurant, and that door was locked, so people couldn't actually get out anyways. My first thought was to run out the hole. But if I do, then I have perfect silhouette for a shot in the back. And so I went to the right and went over a table and under another one. And he never left.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

Susannah was hiding behind an overturned table with her parents.

[Susanna]

I watched him come around the front of the truck. We were on the passenger side of the truck. He would take aim, pull the trigger, Then he'd walk to the next person and he would take aim and pull the trigger. And that's when I thought, I've got this guy. I've got him. I used to carry a gun in my purse, and at that time, in the state of Texas, it was illegal. So I reached for my purse on the ground next to me and realized that about three months earlier, I had made the stupidest decision of my life. My gun was 100 yards away out in my car, because I did what most normal people would do. You think, oh, what are the odds of my needing it in the middle of the day in a crowded restaurant? So here was this guy with his guns, with complete control over the restaurant, and I had no way of going against him. I remember looking at my purse and thinking, what do I do now? Throw my purse at him?

[Narrator/Scene Description]

Kirby and Mike were hiding with Colonel Doty, a retired serviceman on a semi automatic.

[Kirby]

When you run out of bullets, the breech comes back and stays back. And when it came back, that's when Doty yelled out, his gun is empty. That's when Doty and I jumped up and grabbed the chair. We thought we would exit. He turned and looked at us, and there was eye contact for just like a couple of seconds. Imagine your worst horror. This guy was horrible looking. I mean, his face was tight, it was drawn, and you could. The eyes were just unbelievably white and large. And he and he came out with another gun, just like. I don't even know where it came from. And he fired three shots at us. So we spun and fell to the ground. And when we hit the ground, I turned to look. He had already ejected the clip and was coming in with another clip for the gun that was empty. So he had two guns going from that point on just nonstop. He began a clockwise motion throughout the restaurant and just constantly shooting and screaming and yelling at the women in there, calling them all vipers and bitches. And look what the women of Bell county has done to me. Is this worth it? I'll make you all pay. I'm going to kill you all.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

Another man, Johnny, was under a table next to Kirby.

[Kirby]

As he came around up to where we were at, Johnny came out from underneath the table and up on his knees. I don't understand what he was doing, but he came up and just sort of erected himself. And when he did, the gunman shot him in the chest. And Johnny fell over backwards. And he had a clean white shirt on. And it began to change colors rapidly. And then the gunman went off to his left. And so we came out from under the table. And I was trying to stop the bleeding on the man's chest. Johnny was just real peaceful. He crossed his legs and he just sat there looking at me and batting his eyes. And it was like total peace in the man's life. It was unusual for me.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

Susanna and her parents are hiding from the gunman behind an upturned table.

[Susanna]

He was just walking from one person to the next, taking aim and pulling the trigger. That's when I realized that that's what he was there to do. He just wanted to rack up body bags. What could possibly be so wrong in this guy's life? What could be so wrong? How could he be so screwed up to be doing something like this? My father, who was on the floor next to me, took my attention and he said, I've got to do something. I've got to do something. He's going to kill everybody in here. And my attention completely turned to him. And I grabbed him by the shirt collar and I tried to hold him down. And I said, yeah, but you can't go at him. You can't do anything. But when he saw what he thought was an opportunity, he broke loose from me and ran at the guy. The bad guy had total control, and he simply turned, saw my dad coming, and shot my father in the chest.

[Kirby]

And there was a woman there that had a young child. And the child was screaming. It was like three or four years old maybe. And he was yelling, shut the kid up or I'll kill him. Shut the kid up. And finally he said, get your kid and get out of here or I'll kill you both. And she didn't believe him at first. She was afraid to move. He had to yell it a second time. She grabbed the kid, jumped up and ran, and her and the child made it out safely. It was the only act of humanity the man had. When that woman's mother tried to stand up to go with her, he shot and killed her.

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[Kirby]

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[Susanna]

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[Narrator/Scene Description]

A gunman executes over a dozen people inside a busy cafe. Kirby lies next to a retired colonel as the gunman continues to kill people.

[Kirby]

Then he continued his circle around, still just doing the same thing. And the whole time yelling at the women, yelling at people, threatening them. He would just reach under the table and grab them by the hair and put a gun to their head and scream at them, tell me, was it worth it? And then he'd just shoot them in the head and just like chunk them like they were nothing. Then he came over to where we were and he shot me in the upper hip, upper right hip, and. And he shot Colonel Doughty in the chest. It felt like somebody had hit me with the flat part of their fist. And it was a hard hit, but not real painful like you would think.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

Susanna and her mother were crouched behind an overturned table. Her father had been shot in the chest when he tried to stop the gunman.

[Susanna]

My mother and I were up in a front corner that we really had no way out. The gunman and his truck were blocking our exits. I heard a window way at the back, the opposite end of the restaurant being broken. And I thought, oh my God, here comes another one. You're still looking for an explanation at that point. But then I saw people getting out that way. An unlikely hero had thrown his own body through that window to create an escape route. So when I would peek up across the top of our upturned table, when I saw what I thought was a chance, I stood up, I turned around, I grabbed my mother by the shirt collar. I said, come on, come on, we gotta run. We gotta get out of here. And then my feet grew wings. I thought for sure he's gonna see what I'm doing and he's gonna turn around and he's gonna shoot me in the back. And I just waiting, every time I heard the gunshot, waiting to feel it was, was dreadful.

[Kirby]

And he got over, back over to me again. He was standing behind me at my feet, and I was face down. Colonel Doty was face up and Our shoulders were touching. And Doty yelled at him and said, why don't you just get out of here and leave us alone? And bam, he shot him. I could hear the air escape. I felt his body relax. I know he died instantly at that point. And then for whatever reason, he straddled me. And he had a foot on each side of my hip. And he kicked me on the right hand side, of course, yanked my body. I had my hand over my face. I had blood all over me from earlier. So I was hoping he would think I was dead. And I just lay there. He bent over and put the pistol against the soft spot right in the back of my head. And as he pushed the barrel down, I remember saying what I thought then was going to be my last prayer. And I said, lord, if I die, I'm coming home to play. And then. Explosion. It was so loud, it was literally deafening. I heard the explosion. I thought I was dead. I started looking for the lighted tunnel. My grandmother, Jesus, an angel, something. And nobody was there. And this is when I realized. And I literally said it to myself. I said, the jerk missed me. And I pulled my head up and I could see a tear in the carpet right by my finger. I remember hearing the police yell at him, it's the police. Drop your weapon and give up. Only thing I can think of was that he turned to look. And when he did, he pulled his hand and shot and tore the carpet next to me. So, as you can see, thank God, he missed the second shot.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

Susanna grabbed her mother and ran to escape through a broken window.

[Susanna]

He shot at me and hit a woman. That was beyond me. As I got to that back window, I stumbled through it. I fell down into the broken glass, lost a shoe. And I promptly kicked off the other one so I could sprint. I only went maybe 10 or 12ft when I ran into my manager friend who came out a side door, a kitchen door. And he said, thank God you're all right. I said, yeah, but Dad's been hit and it's bad. And I turned to say something to my mother. And that was the very first time I realized she hadn't followed me out. It hadn't occurred to me at the time when I was running out the building. But my parents had just had their 47th wedding anniversary two weeks prior to this event. Mom wasn't going anywhere without Dad. I had no idea where my mother was. I had no idea where the gunman was. I was scared at that point. And one of my patients was a police officer out by his Car. He had helped to set up a perimeter. And he made a hand signal to me telling me to stay back.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

Three policemen entered the cafe and engaged the gunman in a firefight.

[Kirby]

He started shooting at the police. They shot one round and caught him somewhere in the forearm. And he dropped one pistol on a plate of food. And he ran back into an alcove of the bathroom or between the two bathrooms. He was trying to get into one of the bathrooms, but there are patrons in both of them that were laying on the floor holding the doors closed. So he was forced. He was hidden behind a partial wall and started a gunfight with the police.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

Kirby had been shot just above the hip.

[Kirby]

The bullet was starting to burn, but kind of like somebody putting a cigarette out on your stomach. Which eventually caused me to roll over and unbuckle my pants to see what the damage was like. But because the bullet didn't come out, I really didn't think I was hurt. You know, I saw no blood. It was all back here. And so I thought I was okay. I was in no pain. And at this time, I'm laying on the floor looking around, there's bodies everywhere. I thought, I'm okay, I'm getting out of here, I'll see if I can find somebody to take out with me. And there were seven bodies around me and they were all dead. When I turned to my right, I saw my buddy Mikey. And he was laying at my foot. He was a doctor and he was my friend. I think he saw me get shot. And he was coming to me to see what he could do to help. I believe that's why he got shot. He was shot three times. And when I spun the seam, I could see blood dripping out of the top of his head. And I felt his body. He was warm. I felt for a pulse. I was shaking him. I was hollering his name and there was no response, but he was still warm. So I'm thinking he's still alive. I didn't want to drag him out across dead bodies, so I just decided to lay there with him.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

A police officer under fire crawled over to Kirby.

[Kirby]

He crawled over to check on me, see if I was okay, Patted me on the shoulder and said, it'll be okay. I'm gonna flank him. And he took position behind this silly little flimsy three layer serving cart. And he began to engage with the gunman. You know, he kept saying, give up. Drop your weapons. Come out, give up. And the gunman kept saying, no, I'm gonna kill more people. And he took Real careful aim. And he shot two shots that hit the gunman in the midsection. Well, it didn't kill him, but he dropped to the floor and at that point he realized he was dying. He realized it wasn't going to work. So he was also wasn't out of bullets, but all the clips he had left fit the gun that he dropped earlier. So he's shelling them out one at a time to fire back at the police. And he finally put the gun to his left temple and he shot himself. I mean just almost immediately I could hear orders, you could hear sirens, all of these things going on. But I heard somebody just bite behind me start yelling, dead, dead, dead, dead. And I rolled back to look to see who was yelling. It was emt. They finally let them in. He saw me alive and he yelled, we have a live one. That was some pretty good words. Best words I heard, I guess through the whole 12 minute ordeal. I was shot in the back, actually it was in the upper hip and it came out my stomach. It actually didn't come out because I was laying belly on the concrete. Missed my backbone by half inch. Missed all the major nerves, missed all the major arteries, but yet it was life threatening. I didn't have to have a blood transfusion, but they said it was so close and they almost lost me a couple of times on the operating table. But everything's healed up, everything works and everything's good now. Just an ugly scar.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

Susannah waited outside to find out if her parents had survived.

[Susanna]

One of the things that they saw was a woman on the floor cradling an older man who had obviously been mortally wounded. They said at that point they saw a 30 something year old man walk up to her, put a gun to her head. They said she looked up at him, put her head down and he pulled the trigger. And of course that woman was my mother.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

George Hennard killed 23 people and and wounded 20 before taking his own life. It was the largest mass shooting in U.S. history at the time.

[Susanna]

I think I survived because I was meant to survive. I think I survived because my father helped alter the gunman's course. Gave me a few extra minutes. To my knowledge, I was one of the only people to escape from that front area.

[Kirby]

I believe I survived because of divine intervention. The guy was a merchant marine. He knew how to handle weapons. There's no way he should have missed me point blank. I lost a total of seven friends that day. And then there were some others that were wounded. But seven friends I lost that day. When they told Me that Mike was expired. I mean, that's my best buddy. And I can't help but think how many times he probably could have escaped because he was over by that wall and I mean, just five foot from the opening. But being my friend, being the kind of, being the kind of guy that Mike was, I believe he was coming to my rescue. I know he saw me get shot. I think he was coming to me to try and help me. What a horrible thing to add to everything else. Somebody coming to rescue you and then they get killed for it. It's tough stuff.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

It's June 2009 in Rochester, New York. Reagan is a single mother living alone with her two young children. Eric is the father of Reagan's six year old daughter.

[Reagan]

There was a four year time span of Eric and I where we were breaking up together. Breaking up together. Together. Breaking up together. It was very tiring to be in love with somebody and not having the maturity of just ending it. Eric wanted to be a part of our daughter's life, but did not want to take any responsibility. He got into a roommate situation with a very good friend of his that at the time was pretty heavily into drugs. I did not feel comfortable at all with my daughter going over there. And I had told him, no, you know, you're not sorry. You can pick her up for a few hours and go do something entertaining, but it's not the establishment I want my daughter in. Things kind of took a turn for the worse between him and his roommate.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

Reagan allowed Eric to rent the basement apartment in her house because that was

[Reagan]

the only way I was going to get any financial support from Eric. And then I wouldn't have to worry about places that he was taking my daughter that were not safe for her. He wouldn't again help me out with daycare cost or clothing cost, anything like that with his daughter. But yet he wanted to have a say in her life. He wanted to say where she could go, what she could do, but took no responsibility. And that frustrated me a lot.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

Regan and Eric went to the birthday party of a mutual friend.

[Reagan]

Somebody at the place we were at gave me some attention and Eric didn't like that. And so he got in my face, started, you know, yelling at me and I said, you know, I don't do this in public. I said, so I'll drive you home and you can go to your apartment and that's it, we'll separate. When we pulled into my driveway at the time I was remodeling the house that I was in and there was A big dumpster in the driveway. At that point, Eric kind of snuck around. The dumpster came out behind me, put his hand on my neck and threw me to the ground. And he got on top of me and he said, I could kill you. Just know I could kill you. You're dead to me. And I was completely blown away. Completely blown away. And I said, you need to. You need to remove yourself from my home, and this is not going to be okay. You cannot reside in my home. And he would get right in my face and he says, what are you going to do? You can't get rid of me. There's nothing you can do.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

For the next two months, Reagan tried to get Eric to move out.

[Reagan]

I would find him in my daughter's room crying, crying and saying, you know, daddy's going to have to leave, and, you know, your mom wants me gone. It was playing a lot of games with the children. I've never dealt with it before. I've never seen it before. Very extreme highs and extreme lows and very little in between. Eric would have this look, this look in his eyes I've never seen before. It was like a crazed animal. I feared for my life. I, at that point, realized that Eric was sick and Eric was very unsafe. And I've never felt so much fear that I felt for two months of my life that I slept with a blade in between my mattress, scared that he was going to come up the stairs in the middle of the night and kill me in my sleep.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

Reagan applies for a restraining order to force Eric out of the house.

[Reagan]

He had convinced me that just give me time and I'll move my stuff out, no problem. I won't cause you any more problems, per se, but, you know, our move out date is four months from now. And so that's where the temporary restraining order kind of subsided a little bit there.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

Reagan met Dan and they began dating.

[Reagan]

Eric started to suspect that I was seeing somebody else, mainly because, you know, he would hear me on the phone and he did ask me, are you seeing somebody? And I said, yes, I'm moving on. That's really when things turned sour. Made a few comments, threatening comments in regards to, you know, getting violent towards Dan. There's points that he was stealing my cell phone to get information, stealing, breaking into my computer to get information, use it against me. Just got very controlling, extremely controlling, and just had a crazed look in his eye.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

Eric finally moved out of Regan's house four months later.

[Reagan]

When Eric finally moved out, I was able to sleep. I felt a great Relief. We did have an arrangement where he would pick up our daughter on Sundays from 1 to 5. That way he would have some time with his daughter and wasn't too far away from me.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

Three weeks later, Reagan's new boyfriend, Dan, came over to do yard work.

[Reagan]

This was a Sunday. We weren't supposed to do it on a Sunday. Or if we were, he was supposed to come very early to get it done and be out. By the time that Eric had dropped our daughter off, my son was inside. And Dan and I continued to work. And I started to get nervous about the time of the day, knowing that Eric was going to be coming. I was in the backyard collecting a bundle of these pipes that went with the pool. And my daughter came running back. My stomach dropped. Dan was in the front of the house. I was in the back. Oh, boy. I knew instinctively this is not gonna be pretty. This is not gonna turn out good at all. So my next thought went to get my daughter inside the house. So at that point, I yelled at her to get inside. Her being at her age of six, she tried arguing with me or wanted to see. And I again, get inside. I went over, and Eric was inside the garage, and Dan was standing behind his car in my driveway. You know, Dan had looked at Eric and had said, you know, just get out of here. You. Do you think you're the first crazy ex boyfriend I've ever come across? Just. Just leave. Just get out of here. And I turned and I looked at Eric and I said, please leave. You can get your stuff later. Or if you think you can finish up. Great. Finish up. Get off my property. And Dan said, that's the best effing thing I've heard all day. Stay away. As soon as those words came out of Dan's mouth, I just knew. Oh, no. Oh, no. I turned to Dan and I said, get inside and said, get in the house. And Eric, you know, pretty much made it clear that he was going to continue working on getting his stuff out of the garage, which was fine by me because it means I wouldn't have to deal with him again.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

Reagan joined Dan inside the house. And then they heard the back door open.

[Reagan]

I looked out the door. I didn't see Eric. And I looked at Dan, and Dan and I both looked at each other. And the question was, was that a kid leaving my house or was that Eric walking into my house? And I heard Eric's voice coming from the back of the house, and he asked where my daughter was and thank you. Looked at me, and he says, can I kick his butt now. Now he's entering your home. And I didn't know what to say, because, again, I didn't want it to get to that level. Eric had to come through the back of the house and through the kitchen, not really being able to visibly be seen, but heard. And Eric walked past Ann, heading towards the back of the house, where he assumed that our daughter was. And he spun around, and I saw Eric's hand go up and come down onto Dan's head. I didn't see anything in Eric's hand, but I heard it. I heard bone. I heard bone. Dan's body fell to the ground. He had no color. He didn't move. He literally fell to the ground like a brick. I saw a gaping wound, dead center of his forehead, Significant size, A puddle of a pool of blood. I thought Dan was dead, and I'm pretty sure Eric possibly thought the same thing. Eric went over to Dan's body, put his foot on his chest, and removed the pry bar out of his head. That's when Dan started to move, and I realized he wasn't dead. And then a thought came over to me that if he's not dead, Eric's not going to stop until he is dead. So I put myself over Dan's head to protect him. That was my instinct, was just to cover him. At that point, I felt a kick to my face with such force that I went back a few feet, and I actually felt my. My jaw shift and my teeth shatter. And I saw Eric with the pry bar in his hand standing on the other side of Dan and my back to the door. So I put my hands up, and I said, please don't kill me, and don't hurt the babies. Please don't hurt the kids, and please don't kill me. Eric was extremely calm. He repeated himself over and over, saying, you should have done what I told you to do. You're gonna die today. Don't worry. I'm not gonna hurt the kids. And he said just in that manner, My mindset went to complete survival mode. It went to, all right, you want to kill me? Well, I'm not going down without a fight, and this is what I need to do. I need to get outside. I need to let the neighbors see. It was a beautiful June evening. It was daylight. Somebody's bound to be outside. So I put my hand on the door. I'm struggling to get out of the door. And I felt the first blow of the pry bar. I just kept moving. I just kept moving. I did a backwards crawl down my front porch steps, felt another strike. Then I knew that I hit my front yard because I felt the grass. And I tried to yell, but I don't think I was very successful at it, being that my jaw was shattered at that point. But I just remember I was trying to yell.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

Reagan's 10 year old son ran outside to help his mother.

[Reagan]

My mind was on get outside. Then it turned to, oh, my God, my son is sitting here and he's not even 10ft away from me and he's eye witnessing his mother getting killed. And I could hear him yelling, don't hit my mommy. Don't hurt her. Why are you doing this? Stop doing what you're doing. Why are you doing this? Eric had enough self control in the middle of attacking me with a pry bar to stop and answer my son. And he said very calmly, because your mother told Dan to beat me up. At that point, I felt another hit with the pry bar. That's when I felt, okay, I'm gonna die today. He's gonna kill me. This is it. He's finally, his threats are coming true and he's making his promises clear and he's gonna kill me. I had felt a strike to my skull that I will never forget. And it was with such force that when he attempted to remove it, I felt my head stuck on it and I felt it yank up. That's when I felt, done. I'm done. And then I heard my daughter's voice and I turned in the direction that I heard the voice and I just saw her zipping past me and I heard her yelling, Someone call 911. My mommy's gonna die. Somebody call 911. She located my neighbor, who at first did not initially believe what was going on. She did hear the argument in the driveway, but just thought it was a family dispute and didn't think anything of it. And then she said that she saw the seriousness in my daughter's eyes of, okay, I'll go take a look. At that time, he must have gotten in his car, took off, saw the neighbor, and I just knew, okay, he's gone. My children are safe, they're not harmed. And I put my hands to my head because I felt as though if I didn't do that, my skull was going to fall apart, my face was going to fall apart. I knew that I was getting weak, I knew that I was tired and I knew I was feeling a lot of pain. And at that point, I don't know how long it took, but I heard an officer next to me, I Started saying, there's somebody inside, there's somebody inside. So they didn't go in right away because they had to draw their guns and thought my attacker was inside until they opened up the door and they saw Dan's body laying there. And then an officer came back to me and. And I just kept saying, eric Johnson did this. Eric Johnson did this. Because if I was going to die, I was going to die, but no way was he going to get away with it. And they were going to know who did it.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

Reagan and Dan were rushed to the hospital.

[Reagan]

And the first time that I actually felt significant fear for my life was when I begged to the paramedic, please just let me pass out. It hurts so bad. I just want to pass out. And she said to me, if you do, I can't promise you'll ever wake up. I didn't find out until later on that both Dan and I were called in as DOA's. They didn't expect us to even make the ride there. Dan was so injured that every time he breathed in, they said his brain came out of the wound and they had to get him in. That first day in the hospital, my neurosurgeon came in and he says, you're going to need multiple reconstructive surgeries. We're going to need to completely rebuild your face. I was in ICU for 10 days. Eric was on the run. They didn't know where Eric was, so I had officers outside my door. I wasn't allowed any flowers or anything without, you know, getting it cleared through security.

[Narrator/Scene Description]

Eric Johnson was arrested 30 days after the attack. He was convicted of assault and attempted murder and sentenced to 40 years in prison.

[Reagan]

Dan's brain injury was a lot more significant than mine. He was actually missing portions of his frontal lobe. He had lost vision in his right eye. He'll have seizures from time to time. He's got significant brain memory loss such like that. I felt as though it was my fault that it had happened. And then it turned into anger because then I realized I did everything I could to prevent something like that from happening. And it's nobody's fault but Eric's. As to what happened that day, it's nobody's fault but his. I survived for my children. When I was pleading to just let me black out and the paramedic said, no, I don't think you're going to come back. I completely flashed to my children's faces. I also survived and kept the memory of everything because I wanted Eric to pay. He was not going to get away with it.

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[Kirby]

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