Angela Hughley, a mother of five, caught bullet fragments in her chest as she pulled up for her overnight shift at the FedEx Ground facility on Thursday night. Her 19-year-old son arrived moments later — late enough that he missed gunman Brandon Hole, but early enough to call the police for help that mattered.
“I thank God for him,” said James Foster, the father of Hughley’s sons, on Friday afternoon.
Hughley’s son works at the same facility and was meant to start his shift at the same time as her but had been running slightly behind, Foster said. Hole’s rampage was over by the time he arrived.
“He seen his mom and he called 911, and he stood there until they wrapped her up and put her in an ambulance,” Foster said.
Hole killed eight FedEx workers in the attack on his former workplace, according to Indianapolis deputy police chief Craig McCartt. He finished by ending his own life before police arrived.
Hughley, who was shot while still inside her car in the facility parking lot, was among five victims who left the scene with nonfatal injuries.
Her car sat in the employee parking lot all Friday while Hughley received surgery. Hole’s rifle had punched five bullet holes in its gold exterior.
She called Foster before she went under, he said Friday afternoon.
“She said, ‘James, I got shot,’” he said. “So I got in my car, called my sisters and them because they like to pray.”
He couldn’t get into Eskenazi Hospital to see her right away, he added. Too many other members of their family had shown up.
“So I waited for her,” he said. “I went back there to see her, and she said, ‘Well, I love you. I got shot twice and it messed up my ribs and my glands. It messed up a lot of stuff inside.’”
She has a long recovery ahead, according to Foster. He still can’t process how close he came to losing her and their son in one night.
“Both of them could have got shot, you know?” he said. “How can you swallow that? They trying to make a living, and this guy just went beserk and shot anybody.”
Although police and federal agents confirmed they had investigated Hole’s home and personal computer, authorities had not provided any information about a possible motive by 6 p.m. Friday.
The Marion County Coroner’s Office will work over the weekend to identify the eight people killed in the attack.
