Woman shot near Kirkwood is paralyzed, remains in hospital

CEDAR RAPIDS - One of the three people shot last month inside an apartment near Kirkwood Community College may never walk again.

Shannon Gaskins, 21, was shot once during an apparent robbery attempt on the afternoon of April 20 at 311 Kirkwood Court SW, No. 1. The bullet severed her spinal cord and left her paralyzed from the waist down, according to her sister, Amanda Brown.

"Since her spinal cord was severed, her prognosis for walking is 2 percent," Brown said Wednesday.

Gaskins remains hospitalized. Her fiance, 22-year-old Alexander White, also was shot when gunfire was exchanged in the apartment that afternoon, police said. He has since been released from the hospital.

"He has not left Shannon's bedside since," Brown said.

Three people have been charged in connection with the shooting. Teran Huff, 25, of Des Moines, Raymond Sellers, 24, of Chicago, and Shantres Johnson, 21, of Cedar Rapids, all face two counts of attempted murder and two counts of willful injury causing serious injury and one count of first-degree robbery.

According to a search warrant filed last week, Gaskins told police two men came into her apartment and asked “where the weed was." When she told them she didn't have any, they shot her and White, according to the search warrant.

Sellers was also shot during the incident, police said.

Huff later told police he fired shots in the apartment and another witness, Tirisha Johnson, admitted being inside the vehicle that left the scene after the shooting, according to court documents. They reportedly told police the shooting was over money that was supposed to be in the apartment.

According to online court records, Tirisha Johnson, 22, hasn't been charged in this case.

Brown said her sister is progressing, but has not spoken with her about the incident. The shooting near Kirkwood ended a week that left one man dead and four others injured by gunfire in Cedar Rapids. Police have since made arrests in all three cases.

"It's been alarming, all the stuff that's gone on out here," said Donald Brown, Gaskins' brother-in-law.

Gaskins had attended Kirkwood in the past and had planned to return this fall, her sister said. Brown said the shooting will likely derail those plans.

A fund has been established to benefit Shannon Gaskins. Anyone wishing to donate can do so at any Veridian Credit Union branch.

Huff, Sellers and Shantres Johnson remain in the Linn County Jail under bonds.