An interview with Brittney Ireland, mother of shooting victims, will air on News Channel 3 at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis mother and her family are on a long road to recovery after all four of her children were injured in an interstate shooting last week.
“I’m just grateful and happy that they’re all alive,” Brittney Ireland said. “Our lives are forever changed, but just grateful they’re alive.”
Ireland is bearing a burden no parent should ever have to endure.
All four of her children, eight-year-old Kyree, three-year-old Antonio Jr. and her three-year-old twins Ace and Zuri, were all hospitalized after a shooting on I-240 last week.
The youngest child’s father, who was also in the car at the time of shooting, was also shot.
Police say this was a case of road rage.
According to court records, the father was trying to merge onto I-240 when an SUV reportedly refused to let him over.
Police say when he managed to get into the lane, the driver of the SUV started driving erratically toward his vehicle and someone inside the SUV opened fire.
“The only thing that I really have an issue with is if it was the driver, my kids’ father, my boyfriend, if it was him, why didn’t you guys pull up on the driver’s side,” Ireland said. “You pulled up on the passenger side. You seen my kids in the car. You seen my eight-year-old in the front seat. You seen the other little kids in the backseat. You shot them. Like, really? What is wrong with you?”
The suspects, 21-year-old Kendrick Ray and 18-year-old Lorenzo Watson are both being held on $1 million bond for the shooting.
“I hate that they have bond. I don’t care if it’s a million dollars,” Ireland said. “I don’t know why you felt like you had to do that, and I hate to call them a menace or a terrorist but to me, that’s what they are.”
Ireland said nothing could prepare her for what she saw when she got to the hospital after the shooting.
“When I got in there, that’s when I seen everybody was shot,” Ireland said. “I’m like, ‘What in the world?’ My son was already sedated. So, I didn’t get to see one because they airlifted Ace. They airlifted him and told me they were taking him to LeBonheur. I needed to ride in an ambulance with Kyree. Kyree was really freaking out the most. That’s my kid with autism. He does not like people. He does not like to be looked at, and they didn’t know that. He’s just screaming and asking for me. Then, my other baby was crying. My daughter was in another room. It was just people everywhere. Blood Everywhere.”
Her oldest, Kyree, was shot in his leg and his hand, causing him to lose two fingers.
“His growth is going to be stunted,” Ireland said. “So, he’s not going to be as tall or reach his full height because the bullet is stuck in that bone. They cannot take the bullet out of that bone.”
His mother said that he will be wheelchair-bound, but will eventually be able to walk again.
“He understands what happened,” Ireland said. “He just knows them as the bad guys.”
Ace, who was born prematurely, was shot four times in his stomach.
“Just imagine a three-year-old going seven days without being able to eat,” Ireland said. “It was hard.”
Tuesday was the first day that he was able to eat.
Ace and Kyree are still in the hospital.
Antonio Jr. was shot twice in the elbows, leaving casts on both arms.
Zuri was grazed five times, including three times in the back and once in each arm.
“I have to be strong,” Ireland said. “I have four children that are looking at me along with their dad being shot as well. Like, I have five people to take care of. I don’t have time to cry.”
However, despite everything, Ireland said she’s still thankful.
Thankful for the support from the community and grateful for the two men who stepped in to save her children’s lives after the shooting and get them to safety.
Prior to this tragedy, Ireland said her kids were active and outgoing.
Now, they will all need a lifetime of physical and mental therapy and she says she and her family can’t do it all alone.
“I’m not too proud to beg,” Ireland said. “I don’t think that I’m better than anybody. It takes a village and I’m opening my arms for my village to help me with my kids because this is a lifelong journey.”
If you would like to assist the family, you can donate to their GoFundMe page here.
