Noelia Colon and her three children were attending bible study at the Arch Street Church Inglesia Cristiana El Sigue Siendo Dios, when shots were fired last Friday.
"The first picture that came to my mind was, 'Is one of my kids outside somewhere on the ground with a gunshot wound?'" said Colon.
Her son, Yaxdiel, was out back with his brother, 8-year-old Sammy, and his sister, 6-year-old Julie. His siblings were among the first to be ushered back inside by church members. Colon said she grabbed her children, but didn’t see Yaxdiel.
"I didn’t see my three year old so I started running toward the door," Colon said.
Seconds later Yaxdiel stumbled in. He had just been blocked from a bullet by the pastor’s wife, Angela Semidey. The bullet went through the back of her right hip and out through her thigh.
“I look at her and she tells me ‘I’m hit. I’m hit,’ and she is holding on to her thigh,” Colon said.
After she was released from the hospital Semidey spoke with NBC Connecticut about the attack.
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“That bullet was going to be for that little boy. God took care of him,” Semidey said in Spanish.
Colon agrees and said seconds could have meant her son taking a bullet to his head.
"I don’t know how I am going to repay her," Colon said.
Colon’s gratitude also extends to the New Britain Police Department.
On Friday they arrested Kunta Kinta Cupe of Branford and charged him with one count each of First Degree Assault and Criminal Attempt Assault, first Degree and two counts each of Criminal Possession of a Firearm and Criminal Use of a Firearm. While Cupe waits to appear before a judge on August 29, Colon said she plans to go back to church.
"You kind of take for granted your daily activities, but now I appreciate everyone I come across."
