TAMPA, Fla. — Vivian Acker has not forgotten the incident that occurred in October when a gunman shot at her car.
She was nine weeks pregnant at the time, and she was sleeping indoors with her husband and their three children. After that, Vivian would have to heal in the hospital for several weeks while the bullet was still lodged in her head.
On the other hand, she was forced to relive the ordeal during a visit to the doctor in April. She stated that she was informed that her baby boy did not have a heartbeat and would not make it through the pregnancy alive.
She said it was two days before the scheduled time for her cesarean surgery.
“It felt like as if I was shot in the head, and I was awake,” Vivian recounted. “I was awake.” “It’s as if it were happening to me all over again,” she said.
Now, the Acker family is considering leaving Florida in search of a new beginning by means of a GoFundMe campaign. They are considering moving to North Carolina because it is where Vivian’s husband, De’Marian, comes from originally, and his family is there.
“We just feel like we’re just trapped in a cycle mentally,” De’Marian added. “Right now, we just feel like we’re just trapped in a cycle.”
Since the incident, Vivian reported that she had been checking in with medical personnel twice a week to make sure that her child was doing well. She claimed that the injuries made having a child very dangerous for her.
Vivian stated that the group “did everything that they could possibly do.” “The battle was so difficult.”
Since the incident, the family has stated that they have been able to remain at a hotel thanks to the support they received from the community immediately after the shooting as well as from De’Marian’s place of employment.
When the incident purportedly took place, the Acker family had been in town for only three days as part of their vacation.
Vivian explained that she had made her way here to assist her father, who had recently had a stroke. According to the police, even though the suspects had relatives in town, those relatives did not have accommodation for them.
Christopher Stamat Jr., age 21, was taken into custody by the Tampa Police Department in the month of October. According to the investigators, the suspect believed that other persons were following him in other vehicles before opening fire on the vehicle in which the family was resting.
Stamat Jr. fired 13 shots at the vehicle when they were in a parking lot in the North Oregon neighborhood close to North Willow avenues. Stamat is being held on six felony charges, one of which is attempted murder in the second degree.
The pair reported that they no longer own a car, which Vivian stated had been utilized for ridesharing services such as Uber and DoorDash. Because of the impact of her injuries, she needed to take some time off from work.
Even though the shooting had a devastating effect on the family, they have stated that they forgave the perpetrator of the crime.
Vivian shared her sentiments, stating that she had “never thought in my life that in my own hometown, I will lose as much as I’ve lost.” “I have no choice but to leave this location because I am beginning to feel suffocated.”
