When gunfire rang out in her San Francisco Bay Area neighborhood, a 30-year-old mother shouted at her two children to run to safety before she was hit by a stray bullet and killed.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Chyemil Pierce died Monday afternoon outside her home in Oakland. Her 7-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter, who ran around the house and hid as bullets flew, weren't hurt. She also has a baby, the Oakland Tribune reported, who wasn't with her at the time.
Investigators say a gun battle apparently broke out as Pierce, a human resources employee at Kaiser Permanente, was heading home after picking up her kids from school in the 2800 block of Chestnut Street at 4:45 p.m.
Witnesses say up to 50 shots were fired.
The newspaper reports that two people possibly tied to the fight, a teenage boy and a man, were wounded but expected to survive. No arrests have been made.
Sister Aushaunti Pierce told the Tribune she wants the community to speak up in an effort to bring forth the killer, if not for their grieving family then for three children now left without their mother.
"She was just a genuinely good person," she told the newspaper. "I hurt for her babies, and I pray these senseless killings come to an end."
