Akron woman shot for flashing headlights speaks

AKRON, Ohio - An Akron woman shot at just for flashing her headlights was home from the hospital Saturday and spoke out in hopes that it doesn't happen again. 

59-year-old Wylene Edwards winced in pain as she tried to move her arm around telling us, she still has a bullet lodged in her left shoulder from the Thursday night shooting.

"I never thought I would say I wasn't mad at those guys for doing this. But I'm not mad, I just don't want it to happen to anybody else," Edwards said tearfully. 

On Jan. 24 at around 7:30 p.m., Akron police said Edwards was driving eastbound on Elma Street towards Tallmadge Avenue when she flashed her headlights to warn two men walking in the street, she was driving behind them. 

Inside her home Saturday, Edwards told NewsChannel5 the men stepped aside, but as soon as she passed them a barrage of bullets came her way. 

Akron police described several bullets hitting Edwards' Nissan Altima in the trunk and rear window.

"The first gunshot hit me in the shoulder," said Edwards, showing us the sling that is now holding her left arm up.  She also showed a bruise to her right shoulder where a second bullet stopped from going through.

Edwards told NewsChannel5 she's thankful she was not killed, but concerned that it could have been a mother with children in the car at the time. "People ask you to move out the way, does that warrant being shot at?" said Edwards.

But the Akron mother and nail salon owner still didn't express anger towards the men who did this. In fact, she told NewsChannel5, "I just would like to see these young men get on course and get some careers that keep them from walking up and down the street and night."

Edwards may not be mad but the community behind her is, including the owner of the Northside Barber Shop, a business just down the street from where the shooting occurred.

The shop's owner, Emmitt Stewart, told NewsChannel5, "Gun violence, we need to something about it. Maybe Obama can do something about it hopefully."

Stewart said he knows Edwards, who's owned a nail salon around the corner for several years now.  Shocked to find out she was the victim, Stewart told NewsChannel5 his initial reaction was, "Why?  What did she do?  I mean, what'd she do, just blinking her headlights just to let her know or let them know that she needs to get by? That's sad."

Darius Knight, another barber who knows Edwards' family said, "She don't mess with nobody, she don't bother nobody. I just want to know what happened."

Edwards is now recuperating, which means she won't be able to work at her nail salon for some time.  Still, she's staying positive, telling NewsChannel5, "To be honest I think it was a test from God."

Akron police described the suspects to be two black males, 20 to 24 years old. The first suspect was described to be tall with a dark complexion, wearing a black or blue coat with a hood.  The second suspect was described to be thin with a light complexion.  Anyone with information is asked to contact the Akron Police Department at (330) 375-2552.