Waitress At Popular Restaurant Shot On Her Way Home From Work

Neighbors say it was over in a matter of seconds and when the gunfire stopped, a 24-year-old waitress on her way home from work lay wounded on the sidewalk, an innocent victim shot in the back.

"I heard five shots," neighbor Maiko Ravenell said. "I couldn't see anything, but I heard a car just drive off really fast."

"I'm jolted, I'm shocked," said Keven Parker at Ms. Tootsie's restaurant, where the victim worked. She had just left her job at the popular South Street soul food restaurant. Just a few blocks from her home, she was caught in a barrage of bullets.

"I can't say it enough, one of my best employees," Parker said. "Like a daughter to me. I love, I love. I love her."

"It's very disturbing that you cannot walk home from work without being shot at 13th and Catherine," said Capt. Larry Nodiff of South Detectives.

The bullet passed through the victim and crashed through a window. Several other shots hit the building.

Ravenell lives right next door.

"We thought we should move couple times," she said. "It's scary because it keeps happening."

There is a city police surveillance camera on the corner. Detectives say this has been the scene of gang related shootings in the past. But the pole camera was no help to this shooting investigation.

"We don't have anything at this point from the city camera," Nodiff explained.

"The police told us it's working, but I'm not sure," Ravenell said.

The victim is in critical condition. Her fellow workers are praying for her recovery as Christmas approaches.

"Like a daughter, like a daughter," Parker added. "It's a jolt."

"We have to stop the gun violence," Nodiff said.

The city was unable to tell FOX 29 if the surveillance camera at 13th and Catherine was actually working when the shooting occurred. So far, police have not found any video of the shooting or the suspect. If you have video or any information, you can call South Detectives. Police do not know yet if this shooting was gang related.