Louisville mother shot 9 times recounts terrifying incident: ‘I smelled gunfire’

    LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (WLKY) -- On Thanksgiving morning 2022 while working as a caregiver at the Oxmoor Apartment Homes near St. Matthews, Jasmine Blackmon locked eyes with a masked man outside who shot her nine times.

“We looked each other dead in the face, and as soon as I walked past and started running, he shot me in my back. I smelled the gunfire and heard the gunshots,” said Blackmon.

Bullets pierced nearly every inch of her upper body, including her spine.

“I was just focusing on my breathing and I was thinking about my son the entire time, I was like please, my baby's in the house,” she said.

Police are still investigating who shot the now 25-year-old, while Blackmon cannot fathom why they did it.

“I'm a female and that's why I'm so distraught that somebody would do that to me,” she said.

Though that single moment changed Blackmon’s life, including learning how to walk again, it could not keep her from the most important person to her: her 4-year-old son, Dex, who she reunited with a few months after the tragedy, on Christmas.

“It was joy because I just missed him so much and I was doing all this to get back to you,” she said.

Blackmon is recovering physically and mentally from the horror that happened, and as part of that process, she's forgiven her aggressor.

“God, he handles everything. I feel like it'll all work out and at some point, they will find who did it,” she said. “I don't have any hate in my heart. I'm just trying to move forward and complete the mission that I'm trying to achieve.”

Two years later, Blackmon, who is a living testimony, aspires to start her own youth mentoring program. She was also featured in a 'Trauma Survivors' exhibit at the Speed Art Museum.

But, some scars will take longer to heal.

“It's very triggering when I come out, but I'm trying to learn how to do it again,” she said. “And all the gun violence every day makes me even more nervous. I really want it to stop. It's no reason for women and children to get shot, or anybody to get shot, it's not that serious; people can handle things with their words.”

With her second chance at life, Blackmon is not only rewriting her story of survival but redefining it, because she is much more than a victim of violence.

“I don't want to be defined as a gun violence survivor, but just a survivor, because I've been through it,” she said.

With Blackmon’s case still unsolved, anyone who may have any information is asked to contact LMPD by calling the anonymous tip line at (502)574-LMPD (5673) or utilizing the online Crime Tip portal.