A 70-year-old woman is recovering after being hit by gunfire during a drive-by shooting in Jersey City, N.J., Thursday.
The woman, identified as Ada Lopez, was near Griffith Street and Fletcher Avenue when she was shot just before 4 p.m., according to Jersey City Police.
Her family said she was leaning against a family car a block away from her home, having a conversation, when bullets started flying from a passing car. Lopez was hit three times.
"She fell to the floor, and that's when we realized she was shot," said Jasmine Vega, Lopez's granddaughter. "I picked her up, brought her into the driver's side with me."
Vega took her grandmother to the hospital. It wasn't clear at that point how badly Lopez was hurt, but Vega says her grandmother was well enough to speak up.
"She yelled at me for beating the red lights," she said.
Lopez is recovering at Jersey City Medical Center, where she was initially listed in critical condition.
"She's on medication now," said Vega. "She's saying right now she's happy, she's good. She's thankful to be alive."
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The nursing supervisor at the hospital said the gunshots grazed Lopez and she'll be observed overnight.
"I was praying to God the whole time," said Vega. "I didn't want to lose my lady. That's my grandma."
Authorities said Lopez was not the intended target of the shooting, although the specific circumstances remain unclear. Three men were arrested on charges of aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a weapon in the incident. Police are searching for one more suspect.
