Only on 13: ‘I don’t feel like myself anymore’: Woman shares story of surviving triple bar shooting

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The search continues for the shooter who opened fire in the parking lot of the Round Up Sunday morning, a western bar in southeast Houston. Police said one man died at the scene and another woman was taken to the hospital after being shot in the arm.

That woman is Tatyona Bonard. She tells ABC13 that she and her husband frequented the Round Up after their trail rides every weekend. It was a place they had been going to religiously for the last seven years. But on Sunday around 1:30 a.m., things took a terrible turn.

All Bonard said she remembers was talking to a family member in the parking lot when she heard gunshots. She quickly took cover and hid behind a car, but then realized she was shot in the arm.

“I called for my husband for more than 10 to 15 minutes, but couldn’t find him. When I finally found him, I let him know I was shot. He and my sister rushed me to the hospital,” said Bonard.

Witnesses told Houston police that 29-year-old Donald James was arguing with a woman, when another man came up and shot him. James later died at the scene.

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Bonard said she didn’t know James. But she couldn’t help but get emotional, thinking about how she managed to survive the chaotic ordeal.

“I’m grateful that the bullet hit me in my arm and nowhere else, because I wouldn’t know what my family would do with my babies. I have a 5, 4 and 2-year-old,” Bonard said with tears. “I just hate that I was at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Just two days later, a fire burned at the Round Up at 4601 Almeda Genoa Road. Details on whether anyone was injured or what caused the fire were not immediately available. Houston fire officials said they are investigating.

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Although she’s thankful to be alive, Bonard says the shooting has left her family in a difficult situation. She broke her right arm two weeks ago and still has the bullet from Sunday’s shooting lodged in her left arm, leaving her unable to work and fearful to even leave the house.

“I don’t even feel like myself anymore. This has taken a big toll on me. I’m scared right now. I’ve never experienced anything like this. The life that we were living is over. All I want to do is be at home. That’s the only place where I’m safe,” she said.

She went on to say, “I just want my family to get back to where we were. I want to heal as a family. We are on the verge of probably being evicted from our apartment, because we both can’t go to work. I don’t want to see our kids on the street.”

Bonard hopes that anyone who knows something will come forward and help police catch the shooter.

“He (the shooter) needs to be found. He needs to be in custody. He needs to be off the streets, because it’s to say that he did this to this one person, who else would he do it to?” she said. “Guns are not toys. Bullets don’t have names. The gun violence is getting worse and worse, day by day.”

Anyone with information in this case is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division at (713) 308-3600 or speak anonymously to Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-TIPS.

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