Queens teen hit by stray bullet inside her home speaks out

NEW YORK - 15-year-old Tamima Samira says she still can't get over the fact that now, she is also a victim of New York City's gun violence epidemic while doing homework in her living room.

On Tuesday, at around 11 p.m., Samira was in her dining room, doing her English homework, when a gunfight erupted outside.

"All of a sudden, we hear these loud bangs outside," Samira told FOX 5 NY. "But it wasn't fireworks and we could feel like the shockwaves, you know, the recoil from the gunshot."

At that point, Samira says he didn't realize what had happened and directed her parents and brother to a safe place in the house so that they could take cover. It wasn't until she looked down that she realized she'd been shot in the shin.

"I felt like, a very sharp pain in my leg and I thought it was like an electrocution," Samira said. "But I looked down at my leg and there's blood on my hand."

The NYPD believes that Samira nor her family were the intended targets of the shooting that nevertheless sent a barrage of bullets into their home in Saint Albans.

"There was one bullet that struck me, but there were two other bullets that entered my house," Samira said.

The high school sophomore says it all happened so quickly she didn't have a chance to process the fact that she had been shot in her own home.

Police are still searching for the suspects involved in the shooting.

Tamima and her family say they will not let fear dictate how they live and will not move.