JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A day after Louis Nix was shot while filling his tires at a Jacksonville gas station, he tells News4Jax he’s “getting through it” and hopes it “doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
The Jacksonville football star, who played at Raines High School and went on to Notre Dame, was shot at the Gate gas station off Airport Center Drive on Tuesday night.
Nix, who recorded a video of himself as he was pulled into an ambulance, told News4Jax that he feared he wouldn’t live to see another day.
ORIGINAL STORY: 2 men sought after Jacksonville football star shot at gas station
“At the time, I would say, I felt close to death,” he said.
As of Thursday night, he was still in the hospital.
“I was shot in my chest and the bullet ricocheted to my sternum and to my lung and I’m currently dealing with a bullet in my lung right now,” Nix explained.
Nix says while pumping air, two men walked up him, flashing a light in his eye. He pushed back, then felt a shot in his chest.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office says they’re still searching for two suspects in the case -- two men that Nix says he doesn’t know.
“I think it was just something random,” Nix said. “I feel like it could have been anybody.”
Once he was on a stretcher, Nix began taking video.
“I just knew I couldn’t dial a number on my phone, so when I was in the ambulance, I put it on Instagram,” he said. “I just wanted to relay that message so if I did go out, my family and the people I love would know I love them. That was the most important thing.”
Slowly but surely, Nix is recovering from his injuries. He now feels like he gets a second chance at life.
“I just want to live a better life, be better as a person and just hope for the best for myself and my family,” he said.