‘I kept thinking I’m dying’: Woman shot at 4th Street CVS speaks out

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Shot on the job and now setting the story straight.

The manager of a Downtown Louisville CVS continues to recover after what police initially described as a domestic violence shooting.

An arrest report for 25-year-old Anthony Howard said he shot a woman, and grazed another person with a bullet.

He told police the woman who was critically injured was his ex-girlfriend Aeisha Grainger, and she said that’s not the case.

“That night, I mean I thought that I was dead,” Grainger said. “Honestly I kept thinking I’m dying, I’m dying.”

March 21st is a night Grainger said she’ll never forget.

Grainger is a manager at the CVS at 4th and Ali and said Howard was a former employee that came to the store everyday as a customer the two weeks after he quit.

However on the night of the shooting, she said he was lingering around the store more than usual.

“He went to get a drink like he normally does and then he went back to the antioxidant aisle and stood back their for like a good ten minutes,” Grainger said.

According to Grainger, Howard kept staring at the front of the store, making her and her coworkers uncomfortable.

She told WAVE News that another employee asked him to leave and threatened to call the cops and that’s when Howard pulled out his gun.

“Then he started shooting at me, and let about seven bullets get in me pretty much from that,” Grainger said. “He pretty much shot until the gun was empty.”

Even after he emptied the chamber, Grainger said Howard kept pulling the trigger.

A traumatizing experience she said she can’t get out her head.

“Then he finally put the gun down next to me, kissed me on the forehead and then he walked out,” Grainger said.

Grainger said he constantly made advances toward her that made her feel uncomfortable.

The police report said Grainger was his ex-girlfriend, but she told WAVE News that they never had a romantic relationship and were only cordial at work.

“But one day he did message me on Messenger, talking about he wanted me to be his girlfriend and all that,” Grainger said. “And I told him, ‘No I’m not going to be your girlfriend. I’m your boss.’”

Now, she’s recovering at UofL hospital trying to learn to walk again and hoping to ask him one question, “Why?”

“I just want to know why he did it, and what was the reason behind it,” Grainger said. “I want to know what got him to the point that he pulled a gun out and wanted to shoot me. Because he almost killed me and he was aiming to kill me.”

Grainger said she is hoping to start physical therapy soon to begin her journey back to walking.

“I’m working on trying to learn how to walk again on my right leg because my right leg is numb right now and my foot is completely numb and I can’t really use it at all,” Grainger said.

We reached out to LMPD regarding the discrepancy with their relationship and a representative responded saying:

“Due to this still being an ongoing investigation we are unable to provide any other information regarding your request.”

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