Who is Katie Guzenko? Woman, 27, caught in crossfire shares video of her BULLET-SMASHED face
WARNING: This article contains graphic imagery and content that some readers may find distressing. Discretion is advised.
PORTLAND, OREGON: In a horrifying incident, a 27-year-old woman, identified as Katie Guzenko, survived after being shot in the face on July 20. She was caught in the center of a gun battle while driving near Southeast 130th Avenue and Powell Boulevard.
Guzenko, who is a native of Ukraine, was on her way to pick up silverware for a bridal shower when she heard gunshots: “I kept driving, hoping to get out of that area … next thing I know my face is profusely bleeding,” she told KGW8, who pulled over and jumped out of her car, calling for someone to help her. According to NY Post, one of the shooters’ bullets pierced the front passenger window in Guzenko’s car, pierced through her nose, and exited through the rolled-down driver's side window.
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A day after this tragic incident, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler declared a state of emergency over gun violence and set a goal to reduce shootings and gun-related deaths in the city by 10 per cent over the next two years. To this, during a meeting on August 3, Guzenko told the Mayor and members of the City Council: “These wounds that you see on my face are the result of a 40-caliber bullet that punctured right through my nose." She added: "Mayor, given that you’ve called us a gun violence emergency, I feel like very little is being done." Responding to this, the mayor said that he did not want to “bulls— people” by making exaggerated promises and that the 10 per cent gun violence reduction goal was the “bottom threshold.” He also said that he is working to add 300 police officials to keep the city safe from such violence.
The bloodied video details
In the footage that she recorded, which can be seen here by Fox 3, her face covered with blood, she tells a stranger: "I'm so scared. I was driving, and I heard shots." A stranger tries to calm her down while saying, "It's going to be OK. "OK, OK. Somebody shot me through my car."
Who is Katie Guzenko?
Guzenko, who lives in Gresham, is an HR specialist at Amazon. She, who did Bachelor in Human Resources Management, Leadership and Management from Portland State University, has also interned with The White House in 2018 for four months.
Portland police data
According to shooting incident statistics by the Police Bureau, Portland, Oregan, in the first six months of 2019, there were just over 30 shootings a month, on average. In the first six months of 2022, the city averaged 112 shootings a month. The data also shows in 2019, January through June, there were a total of 199 shooting incidents. In the same time period of this year, there were a total of 673 incidents.