'I got shot!' Teen says she was hit in face by potato-gun at birthday party

ARLINGTON -- A Snohomish County family is sharing a warning about a random act of violence that could have killed their teenager.

“They might think it was fun and games but it’s not,” said April Gorman, “She could have died.”

Gorman believes a potato gun was fired into her 17-year-old niece’s face.

Shian Witherspoon said her swollen head hurts so bad that she can barely talk.

It happened during her birthday party on Saturday – the party ended with a trip to the emergency room.

“No child should have to go through that,” said Gorman.



Shian’s cousins said they watched a pic-up truck pull up alongside their party and that’s when they heard what they thought were fireworks.

“I saw this brown cylinder looking thing come past my face,” said Siera Jackson.

“She just fell to her knees spitting up blood,” said Skylar Clifton.

“She started screaming, 'I got shot, I got shot,'” said Saige Clifton. “She was holding her face.”

Shian is now at home recovering after spending half the night at a local hospital. She said she could taste the flavor of potato after being hit.

Gorman thinks the culprits have probably done this sort of thing before.

“What happened to Shian, I’m pretty sure that it’s not the first time,” she said.

Now Shian’s cousins are left wondering why anyone would fire randomly into a crowd of teenagers.

“They just came and did it,” said Jackson. “It’s the dumbest thing you could ever do.”

Police are working on the case and still collecting witness statements. So far, investigators don’t have any suspects.