PORTLAND, Ore. — Alina Prystupa is in disbelief over what happened to a beloved family member.
"That's the last thing I would think would happen to him," she said from outside her Portland area home. "He was just there at the wrong place at the wrong time."
Alina is referring to her cousin, Vasyl Nesvit. He is a long-haul trucker who lives in Troutdale.
The weekend before last the 26-year-old made a 2,700-mile drive from Portland to North Carolina. On that following Monday night Vasyl was taking a shower at a truck stop just outside of Charlotte when he heard what he thought was a firework outside.
"It's really scary," Dmytro Prystupa said.
Dmytro says what his cousin heard was gunfire and Vasyl realized that when he raced outside and found a man laying in a pool of blood.
"Then he says he turns around and there's a gun pointed at him and he said out of the adrenaline he runs to cover and he says he runs to the nearest vehicle standing there at the gas station and he falls behind it and sees he's been shot as well," Dmytro said.
Paramedics took both shooting victims to the hospital. The other man was pronounced dead and Vasyl was rushed into a surgery that just may have saved his life.
"It's a miracle," Alina said. "I don't know. It's God because I don't even know how he's alive."
Alina is relieved. She describes her older cousin, Vasyl, as generous, kind, and non-confrontational.
"I guess there was an argument between the other two guys, but he had nothing to do with the shooting," Alina said.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the shooting remains unsolved. It does not sit well with family.
"That guy is still out there and it's crazy because hopefully nobody is next," Alina said. "But that guy is on the loose. It's scary."
What happened to Vasyl is especially tough for the family because they are originally from Ukraine and they are closely following the war overseas. Now they are dealing with violence here in America.
"It goes to show anything can happen and in a split second your life can be over or changed drastically," Dmytro said.
Family has launched a Go Fund Me to help cover Vasyl's mounting medical bills.