A 35-year-old mother of five was fatally shot by a stray bullet on Tuesday evening while buying slushies for her children at a gas station in Ferguson, Missouri. Shakeela Martin was at a BP station with her kids when the incident occurred, according to an online fundraiser organized by her family.
The shooting happened as Martin and her children were preparing to celebrate moving into a new home the following day. A friend who was present told local outlet 5 On Your Side that several men arrived at the gas station and began shooting at another group before fleeing the scene. At least 10 gunshots were reportedly heard.
Martin sustained a fatal head wound and died in front of her children. An additional bystander, a male customer, was also struck by gunfire and is in critical condition, according to reports. Martin's children range in age from 3 to 15 years old.
"It was just senseless. It’s so surreal," Martin's cousin, Whittley Anderson, told KSDK. "How can a woman go to the store, get slushies for her kids and end up dying." Anderson described Martin as a "devoted mother to five beautiful children who were at the center of her world."