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Victim in Las Vegas transgender bar shooting recounts terrifying moments

Posted at 11:37 PM, Apr 23, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-24 12:41:02-04

Two months after a gunman shot several rounds through the tinted windows of the Las Vegas Lounge, Callie Lou-Bee Haywood can still remember the terrifying moments as one bullet missed her before another hit her leg.

RELATED: Police search formanwho fired shots into Las Vegas Lounge

Haywood knows the exact number of days -- 46 -- she spent in the hospital and rehabilitation facility recovering from the gunshot that broke both bones in her leg.

"The first bullet missed me. Literally passed by my head," Haywood said. "The very first step I took, I fell."

Haywood is finally back home but still working to walk without a boot and walker, something she says doctors say will not happen for at least six months.

"I'm a survivor. I survived all of this," Haywood said.

As she continues to recover, Haywood, who is a performer at the bar, says she is "100 percent" sure the bar was targeted because it caters to the transgender community.

She says she is confident he wasn't after a single person because the windows of the bar are tinted, and the bullets weren't concentrated in a single area.

Las Vegas police say they're not sure if that is the case or not. They have no information on the suspect or the motive.

They have released surveillance video from that night in hopes of identifying the shooter, but say they've had no luck.

"It is hard for me to even watch the video," Haywood said.  "I am paying attention to how everyone walks now because you can see the way he walks and I am determined to find him."

As she continues her recovery and searches for the shooter, Haywood says she considers herself blessed to be alive.

After leaving the first rehabilitation hospital, because of what she labeled mistreatment, Haywood says she found hope in the form of an employee at the second facility.

There she recounts coming across Mrs. Zeta who prayed with her, despite having a full family life of her own.

Haywood says she isn't sure if she will ever perform on stage at the Las Vegas Lounge again, but she is pushing herself every day to get stronger so she can get back to work.

Until then, she and her friends continue trying to raise money through a GoFundMe page.