WASHINGTON — Reagan Grimes, 9, survived being shot in D.C. last year, but she still has a long healing journey ahead of her.
It was May 2021, and Reagan was 7 years old.
She was playing outside her friend's apartment in northeast D.C.
“I was on a bike, and then I went back inside to go eat and then I came back out," she said.
That's when shots rang out.
More than a year-and-a-half later, Reagan can't bring herself to talk about it, the normally bubbly girl falling silent when asked.
“My daughter called me," Reagan's grandma, Tina Grimes, said. "She was just screaming 'Reagan got shot!,' and I was like, what?”
Reagan was hit in the chest and was in critical condition when police arrived.
"It went through and out the back," Tina said. "So, you know, when she's taking a shower, or changing her clothes, it's always a constant reminder, because she still has a scar on her."
“I just like to call it a little tattoo," Reagan said. "Because it’ll probably be there forever.”
The mental scars have proven even harder to heal.
“Sometimes she may just cry, or she would ask questions. You know, like, why did this happen to me? Mama, you're gonna get the person who did this?” Tina said.
Police have yet to catch the shooter, so now, Reagan only visits the courtyard where it happened in her nightmares.
“When I go to sleep, I don't like to leave the light off," Reagan said.
It's been tough on her younger brother, Dray, too. He was at the shooting.
“I feel happy that she’s okay," he said.
Reagan is happy she can lean on her grandma, or "Ma ma" as she calls her.
She and her two brothers live with her in Maryland now.
“With Ma ma, I felt safe because I wasn't alone, alone anymore," Reagan said.
Tina said she's working to get all three kids back in therapy now that they've moved back in with her.
“Always just, you know, create a space where she can tell me anything," she said.
She's begging people to let kids play in peace.
“There's young boys growing up. You know, [we have to] show them that there's another way, that they don't have to resort to gun violence," she said.
She wants to make sure kids like Reagan can achieve their goals.
“I actually want to be an artist. I want to learn how to paint more," Reagan said.
Tina's mission is even simpler.
“I just want to show them to love people, you know, just be a good person and just to love people," she said.
That's something Reagan can definitely do.
The 9-year-old is working on writing a book about rainbows. She said she originally had gone outside that day in May to get a closer look at one, because she loves them.
Tina has started a foundation and is hosting an event for the it on December 10, called Sons to Suits. It's a mentorship program for young men to connect them with jobs and other opportunities that don't involve guns.