LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Christine Lindsey said she did not expect a Monday night dinner out with friends to end with her hiding in the kitchen, praying to avoid the gunfire erupting outside.
"My first thought was this is how I'm going to die," she said.
Lindsey said she was getting ready to leave after having dinner Monday evening at J. Alexander's Redlands Grill when she first heard the gunshots.
"I had my jacket on, my wallet was in my hand, was getting ready to leave and heard, 'pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop,' right outside the door we were sitting," she said. "Didn't know what it was for a split second. People came barreling through that door from the patio, just knocking over chairs, came rushing in and someone said, 'Shooter!'"
Lindsey said she got down on the ground and made her way into the back of the kitchen, where she waited until she was told the shooting had stopped. She said she spoke with police about her experience and was then escorted to her car, which was checked for bullet holes. She said her vehicle was not hit, but several other cars in the parking lots had broken windshields from the bullets.
Lindsey said she did not see the shooter, but another witness, who asked to remain anonymous, said she was able to see someone holding what appeared to be a rifle outside in the parking lot.
"They were shooting kind of randomly, like, 'bah-bah-bah-bah-bah,' just shooting in the air," she said.
Louisville Metro Police said two people were shot Monday evening outside the restaurant. Both are expected to survive, according to police, though it is not known how they are connected to the shooter, if at all. One witness said she believed one victim, a man, was just leaving the restaurant.
"What I saw was a customer who was outside and he looked like he had been caught in the crossfire and shot in the calf," she said.
Lindsey said she is still a little rattled as she processes what happened Monday evening. She said it was a packed house inside the restaurant and she is relieved more people were not hurt in the shooting.
"It was a very surreal experience," she said. "It was very frightening. I thought it was another mass shooting and I thought that was it."
In a statement posted on Facebook, the restaurant wrote in part: "Redlands Grill is deeply saddened by the random shooting incident that occurred outside the restaurant this evening. Our thoughts are with the victims of these senseless actions."
Police have not identified a suspect and do not have a motive for the shooting. Police did find a gun at the scene but do not know whether it was used during the shooting.
Anyone with information is asked to contact LMPD through the Anonymous Tip Line at 502-574-LMPD.
►Contact reporter Dennis Ting at dting@whas11.com. Follow him on Twitter (@DennisJTing) and Facebook.
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