Good Samaritan returns to work after being shot in Garden City trying to help

GARDEN CITY, Mich. – The Good Samaritan who was shot Dec.

26 after witnessing a car crash in Garden City[1] reopened his seasonings and sauces store in Livonia Tuesday morning.

“This is my love. This is my passion. And I built this from the ground up,” Antoine Williams said.

Last Tuesday he was headed to MFER Seasonings and Sauces[2], located on Plymouth Road near Levan Road, when he stopped at a gas station at Ford and Venoy roads.

He witnessed a car crash and then tried to help.

That’s when one of the drivers, involved in the crash, began firing shots, hitting Williams twice in the head.

Then the suspect chased after him, he said.

The terrifying ordeal was all captured on gas station surveillance video[3].

“It was hard to watch. It was horror. It was like watching a horror movie,” Williams said.

And police may never know why the suspect fired at Williams and others at the gas station.

“That’s been on my mind since it happened, like why.

Why did he try to hunt me down like an animal?” Williams said.

That morning Williams fought for his life and more time with his family.

Williams only spent a day in the hospital.

His wife and children joined him for the store reopening.

“It is really just surreal he is here. The doctors and everyone said that he is most likely wasn’t supposed to be here,” his son, Antoine Williams Jr., said.

Wiliams said the bullets had not been removed from his head. And doctors are still deciding on the next steps.

“God was over me.

I shouldn’t be here right now. I am definitely here for a reason,” Williams said.

The Good Samaritan who was shot in the head after witnessing a serious car crash and trying to help has some people thinking twice about what to do in a similar situation.

Background: Police kill man who shot at witnesses after crash in Garden City[4]

A 37-year-old man from Hamtramck, involved in the crash, responded to Antoine Williams’ help with gunfire.

Local 4 spoke with Michigan State Police Lt. Mike Shaw about what a witness should do following a car crash.

“We talk about it all the time, especially on the freeway, is where we advise people not to get involved in traffic crashes because a lot of times those witnesses or those Good Samaritans end up getting hit by another car,” he said.

Tuesday’s incident didn’t happen on a freeway, but on a busy road, Ford Road near Venoy Road in Garden City.

Shaw said it is always best to call 911, which Williams did first.

“Here’s somebody that for whatever reason that we are trying to determine decides that they are going to fire a weapon at witnesses, instead of get their help,” he said about the suspect who was later shot and killed by Garden City police[5].

Shaw said if you still want to rush in to help following a crash, be cautious.

“It is something that you are going to have to kind of evaluate as you go along, but just know in the back of your head not every situation may be what you think it is,” he said. “The best thing you can do is call the police if you can and the kind of guide your way through that situation to see if you are actually putting your own self in danger by trying to help instead of kind of staying back and letting police to take care of it,” he said.

Williams is recovering at a hospital and is very much thankful to be alive.

“What happened to me was a tragedy, so I’m not in position to advise or tell someone to help or not help.

I can only speak for myself, I would help again because I would want someone to help my family,” he said in a statement.

References

1. ^ Dec.

   26 after witnessing a car crash in Garden City (www.clickondetroit.com)

2. ^ MFER Seasonings and Sauces (mferallpurposeseasoning.com)
3. ^ captured on gas station surveillance video (www.clickondetroit.com)
4. ^ Police kill man who shot at witnesses after crash in Garden City (www.clickondetroit.com)
5. ^ who was later shot and killed by Garden City police (www.clickondetroit.com)