INDIANAPOLIS — As police lights illuminate an apartment complex on the city's northeast side following a fatal shooting Thursday night, brighter light shines on a bigger issue.
Domestic violence.
"I just know what he's capable of doing, and last night, something just told me, 'OK, I just need to protect myself,'" said a woman who was being abused by her boyfriend but did not want to be identified.
The woman said she shot and killed her boyfriend while he was attacking her inside an apartment in the 4800 block of Lakeshore Place, near 82nd Street and Allisonville Road, around 10:30 p.m. Jan. 4.
"He was strangling me, and I tried to push him back, but he was getting stronger and just more physical, and that's when I fell back, and he was just lunging toward me. I don't know because he will just start wailing off on me, and so I just shot him," the woman said.
She said over the course of their relationship, she's gotten five no-contact orders and an order of protection against him.
Despite going back to the relationship, she said, "I know it's not love, but I know he's a broken and a troubled person, and you know me, just being the person that I am, I'm always trying to heal and fix everything and everybody, and that's what I was trying to do with him."
According to Women Against Abuse, a domestic violence nonprofit, it takes an average of seven attempts for a survivor to leave their abuser and stay separated for good. The organization says it could be dangerous for the victim to leave or the victims believe the person will change over time.
"Yes, he was abusive, but that was my best friend, and I love him, and I don't know how I'm going to get through this. I really don't," the woman said as she cried.
And while she may be heartbroken over what happened, she has a piece of advice for women — something she wishes she would have taken before it got to this point.
"It's not always that easy, but I would try and get out of the situation, or I would try, and you know, have a way to protect yourself if it ever comes to that, you know," she said.