BROOKLYN, NEW YORK: Singer and model Imani Sharpless, 26, is in critical condition after she and her boyfriend were shot following a heated argument over parking at a Brooklyn Home Depot.
Her boyfriend Cordel McDuffie, 36, revealed that they were at the Bedford-Stuyvesant Home Depot on the corner of Dekalb and Nostrand Aves on Saturday, September 9 when they got into a dispute with an unidentified man over a parking space.
"He was trying to go into a parking space... I pulled up behind the guy, he had to back up and I was impeding on him trying to back up," McDuffie told ABC 7, adding, "I didn't realize it. I blew my horn for a second and we exchanged words."
McDuffie noted that after a heated exchange of words, both he and the suspect appeared to move on and continued their business inside the store.
However, when the couple left the store at around 12.15 pm, the shooter pulled next to their white Hyundai Sonata and opened fire before fleeing the scene.
Imani Sharpless' injuries
According to People, a spokesperson for the New York Police Department confirmed that officers responded to a 911 call about two people being shot at Willoughby Avenue and Sanford Street at approximately 12.16 pm.
Upon their arrival, officers found McDuffie “conscious and alert with a gunshot wound to the right knee.” Meanwhile, Sharpless was discovered "unconscious and unresponsive, with a gunshot wound to the head."
The two were taken to Kings County Hospital, where McDuffie remains in stable condition and Sharpless remains in critical condition.
In a statement, the department revealed that the shooter has been “described as a male, dark complexion, approximately 5' 6" tall, 160 pounds, wearing a white shirt, red hat, black jeans and fled southbound on Nostrand Avenue on foot."
Stacee Glen, 40, told The New York Daily News that she witnessed the moment when the suspect fired shots at the couple.
"The guy pulls on the side of them, he starts shooting at them," Glen said, adding that she heard McDuffie scream "I gave him the parking spot" after the incident.
How critical is Imani Sharpless’ condition?
A member of Sharpless’ family revealed that she remains in critical condition as doctors are forced to wait to perform surgery.
Her cousin Patrick Sharpless told Daily News that an intense swelling around the wound has to subside before an operation can happen.
“They can’t take the bullet out until the swelling goes down in the brain,” he said, adding, “We can’t do nothing but pray. God is taking care of her.”
Patrick also noted that doctors are unsure whether Sharpless’ wounds will result in lasting paralysis. “We just have to make sure she’s not paralyzed or anything like that,” he said.
McDuffie has described Sharpless as "one of the most beautiful people, she loves kids, is full of life, and just a good person." He added that "for this to be happening over something so minuscule - it's overwhelming."
