A girl who was in Eaton Centre in Toronto and near the spot where a gunman opened fire a few months ago, and was unharmed, was ironically one of the 12 murdered in that theatre;
ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/jessic...rowly-142258973.html
Jessica Ghawi, killed in Dark Knight Rises shooting, narrowly missed gunfire at Eaton Centre
An aspiring sportscaster who just barely avoided the Toronto Eaton Centre shooting in June has been identified as one of twelve people killed at an early morning massacre at a Denver movie theatre.
According to Ken5 News, Jessica Ghawi, who wrote and tweeted about hockey under the name Jessica Redfield, was attending the late night screening of Dark Knight Rises with a male friend — Brent Lowak — when a gunman dressed in black hurled a gas canister into the auditorium and opened fire on moviegoers.
Ghawi, who goes by the Twitter handle @JessicaRedfield, was tweeting about the movie throughout the day Thursday, saying "the 'im going to be too tired tomorrow' agrument never wins."
Her last tweet was simply: "MOVIE DOESN'T START FOR 20 MINUTES."
[ Related: Gunman kills 12 in Denver shooting at 'Batman' premiere ]
In a sort of eerie irony, Ghawi's last post on her personal website was about her being at the Eaton Centre during the June shooting that left one man dead and another fatally wounded:
"I can't get this odd feeling out of my chest. This empty, almost sickening feeling won't go away. I noticed this feeling when I was in the Eaton Center in Toronto just seconds before someone opened fire in the food court. An odd feeling which led me to go outside and unknowingly out of harm's way. It's hard for me to wrap my mind around how a weird feeling saved me from being in the middle of a deadly shooting.
What started off as a trip to the mall to get sushi and shop, ended up as a day that has forever changed my life. I was on a mission to eat sushi that day, and when I'm on a mission, nothing will deter me. When I arrived at the Eaton Center mall, I walked down to the food court and spotted a sushi restaurant. Instead of walking in, sitting down and enjoying sushi, I changed my mind, which is very unlike me, and decided that a greasy burger and poutine would do the trick. I rushed through my dinner. I found out after seeing a map of the scene, that minutes later a man was standing in the same spot I just ate at and opened fire in the food court full of people. Had I had sushi, I would've been in the same place where one of the victims was found.
My receipt shows my purchase was made at 6:20 pm. After that purchase I said I felt funny. It wasn't the kind of funny you feel after spending money you know you shouldn't have spent. It was almost a panicky feeling that left my chest feeling like something was missing. A feeling that was overwhelming enough to lead me to head outside in the rain to get fresh air instead of continuing back into the food court to go shopping at SportChek. The gunshots rung out at 6:23. Had I not gone outside, I would've been in the midst of gunfire.
I was shown how fragile life was on Saturday. I saw the terror on bystanders' faces. I saw the victims of a senseless crime. I saw lives change. I was reminded that we don't know when or where our time on Earth will end. When or where we will breathe our last breath. For one man, it was in the middle of a busy food court on a Saturday evening.
I say all the time that every moment we have to live our life is a blessing. So often I have found myself taking it for granted. Every hug from a family member. Every laugh we share with friends. Even the times of solitude are all blessings. Every second of every day is a gift. After Saturday evening, I know I truly understand how blessed I am for each second I am given.
I feel like I am overreacting about what I experienced. But I can't help but be thankful for whatever caused me to make the choices that I made that day. My mind keeps replaying what I saw over in my head. I hope the victims make a full recovery. I wish I could shake this odd feeling from my chest. The feeling that's reminding me how blessed I am. The same feeling that made me leave the Eaton Center. The feeling that may have potentially saved my life."
Ghawi was originally from San Antonio, Texas.
Update:
Gahwi's brother, Jordan, has posted an update on his blog about what he was told went on in the theatre during the last moments of his sister's life.
"Jessica and Brent were seated in the middle portion of the theatre when a device was thrown into the theatre that produced a "hissing" sound.
The theatre than began to fill with smoke which is when patrons began to move from their seats. At that time, shots were fired. Brent and Jessica immediately dropped to a prone position for cover. Jessica advised multiple times for someone to call 911, which Brent immediately attempted to do. Brent then heard Jessica scream and noticed that she was struck by a round in the leg. Brent, began holding pressure on the wound and attempted to calm Jessica. It was at this time that Brent took a round to his lower extremities. While still administering first aid, Brent noticed that Jessica was no longer screaming. He advised that he looked over to Jessica and saw what appeared to be an entry wound to her head.
He further stated that Jessica presented with agonal respirations. Brent then took what may have been his only chance to escape the line of fire and exited the structure where he then contacted my mother.
Brent's actions are nothing but heroic."
Seems like something..... from a movie. Crazy. Awful. RIP folks.
