This story was originally posted to MyNorthwest.com
An Auburn man caught in the crossfire of a shootout in Des Moines Saturday night says he came within inches of being killed or injured.
The 26-year-old man was driving home from a barbecue gathering at his Des Moines-area church around 8:30 p.m., headed east on S. 260th near Pacific Highway S., when shooters in two different cars opened fire.
The shots riddled his car with bullets from both directions.
The victim, who goes by the name “Didi,” asked us not to share his last name.
He says at least one of the shooters fired from a vehicle in the parking lot of a nearby Kentucky Fried Chicken.
The gunfire left five bullet holes in Didi’s 2008 Toyota Corolla, but luckily, he was not hurt.
Three rounds hit the driver’s side.
Two hit the passenger side.
Gunfire hit the victim’s rear windows on both the driver’s side and passenger side. (Photo: Tom Brock, KIRO Newsradio)
“The only thing I could hear was like fireworks,” he said. “I didn’t know it was a shooting.”
But he soon realized he was in danger and was directly in the line of fire.
“The only thing I could hear was something bumping my window,” he said. “I was in shock. I couldn’t believe that. It just happened suddenly. The only thing I can say was God saved me.”
Two of the rounds left gaping holes in the Toyota’s left-front fender, inches from where he sat in the driver’s seat.
Another bullet pierced the driver’s side rear window.
Two more shots shattered the passenger-side rear window.
No one else was in the car with him.
Didi says it was too dark to get a good look at the shooters’ faces, or the license plates of the vehicles involved.
But he could tell one of the cars was white.
Both cars sped off.
It’s unclear whether the vehicles involved in the shootout were hit by gunfire, or whether anyone in them were injured.
A man of strong religious convictions, Didi credits his faith in God for preserving his life and preventing injury.
In fact, he said just a couple of hours before the shooting happened, he was struggling with his own depression and anxiety.
And he said a prayer.
“I said, ‘God I know that you’re real. But I just want you to show me that.’ ”
He says he believes that’s exactly what God did.
“And I said, ‘Okay, I’m going to sit down and I’m going to let you take the wheel.’ So he just showed me. I can say, God is real. He just saved me.”
Didi says the drivers of the other two cars were traveling at a very high rate of speed.
And as soon as he realized he was caught in the crossfire, both cars sped off.
“The only thing I could see was a white car,” he said. “No license plate, because it was too dark.”
Officers responded to the scene and collected evidence.
But with very little to go on, any arrests of the shooting suspects seem unlikely.
MyNorthwest.com has reached out to Des Moines police to see if they have any leads on suspects, but so far we have not received a response.
Didi says regardless of whether the suspects are eventually identified, the close call has certainly strengthened his own faith.
“I can say God was in my car, you know. I am a Christian guy and I can say I got lucky that night. God wanted me to see (the next day) Sunday. I can feel it. The crazy part is that I was just praying, two hours before this happened.
“And He showed me. Because I asked him to show me He is real, and he just showed me.”