ATLANTA – A Navy veteran has shared her harrowing story after she was shot in the face and hospitalized during a Facebook Marketplace meeting in Atlanta.

Atlanta police are investigating after a Facebook Marketplace meetup escalated into a violent shooting last week. According to authorities, the incident occurred on Wednesday night in the 500 block of Lindsay Street NW.

Zariyona Rowe, a Navy veteran, had arranged a meeting with a potential male buyer to sell a luxury watch valued at $1,200. Rowe stated that the encounter took an unexpected turn shortly after the meeting began. According to the victim, the buyer arrived wearing a mask and asked her to show him the watch using a diamond tester.

“I reached over, grabbed the diamond tester, I turned back, he pulls out a gun and says give me the watch, or I’m going to kill you,” Rowe recalled. Hoping to defend herself, Rowe reached for her own weapon. The man opened fire the moment he saw her moving toward her firearm, shooting her directly in the face.

Following the gunshot, Rowe managed to flee the immediate area in her vehicle. In her rush to escape, she crashed into three parked vehicles, causing significant damage to two of them. Rowe successfully drove to a nearby gas station to seek emergency assistance. Atlanta police officers and emergency medical personnel responded to the gas station, and she was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

What we don’t know:

Atlanta police investigators have not announced any arrests or identified the masked shooter at this time. It remains unknown if any area surveillance cameras captured the suspect’s physical profile or his route of escape from Lindsay Street NW.

What they’re saying:

Rowe is currently recovering from her injuries and notes that the bullet miraculously missed her vital organs. “The bullet went in above my jaw,” she explained. “I have a fracture in my jaw, and it passed through my nasal cavity, so it missed everything major.”

The Navy veteran admitted she deeply regrets her decisions surrounding the meeting, specifically meeting the buyer late at night instead of selecting a public area. She is sharing her story publicly to encourage other online marketplace users to take strict precautions when meeting strangers.

“Usually I meet people at a police station, Walmart, or somewhere public where people can see me,” Rowe said. “My lesson is to make sure you’re somewhere visible and not meeting people at night.”

What you can do:

Atlanta police investigators are actively asking anyone with information regarding the shooting or the masked suspect to immediately contact authorities.

To offset the unexpected healthcare costs associated with her recovery, Rowe has launched an online GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign to help cover her growing medical expenses.

SOURCE: https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/atlanta-veteran-shot-during-facebook-marketplace-sale