JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — A chilling story of survival. A metro Atlanta woman recounted the night she and her boyfriend were ambushed while sleeping inside her Johns Creek home on Plantation Bridge Drive.
"He just opened the door and started firing on us," Heather Quiggle explained.
On Dec.19, 2022, just after 2:30 a.m. Quiggle said her ex-boyfriend Abdul Batin Azzaam Rashid climbed her fence and got in through the backdoor of her home. Rashid was familiar with the layout of the home since he had lived there prior to their breakup. Quiggle said her dogs also knew him so they didn't bark to alert them someone was inside the home.
Quiggle said she and her boyfriend were lying on the bed.
"He (Rashid) opened the door, and everything was dark and I just saw his silhouette. I sat up and said 'No,' and he just started firing," Quiggle said.
Quiggle said her boyfriend was shot three times in his legs. He fell off the bed. She also ended up on the floor. She was shot at least four times from the initial shooting. Quiggle said she managed to find her cell phone and tried to call 911.
"He took the phone out of my hand and then shot me in the back again and then he disappeared," Quiggle said.
Quiggle was shot six times by the time the shooting was over. In the meantime, her son, who was asleep just down the hall on the second floor of their home, was jolted awake. He jumped out of the window and ran to a neighbor's house for help.
"Seth is the hero in this story. He saved everybody's life. That was just truly amazing and heroic," she said.
A friend and co-worker, Andrea Wright said Quiggle was also amazing in her own way. Even after being shot six times she managed to drag herself out of the house to get help – since she had no idea her son was doing the same thing at the same time.
"She got herself out of the house, bleeding, and had enough grit to get herself out of the house and got to the front of another neighbor's house and that’s where first responders got to her," Wright explained.
Quiggle said while she couldn't see everything clearly, she was able to hear what was happening the entire time. The next thing she knew, police and fire were in her neighborhood.
"They didn’t know where the shooter was so they carried me down the front of the neighborhood in a sheet," Quiggle recalled.
She was rushed to the hospital along with her boyfriend. Both survived the shooting.
Quiggle's ex, who was named a suspect by mid-morning on Dec.19 was found the next day. Police said he shot and killed himself.
Quiggle's friends and co-workers at Keller Williams Atlanta Partners in Suwanee have created an online fundraiser to help her with her medical and everyday bills. Plus, the cleanup of the home and the repairs will have to be done before she moves back into it.
"It’s allowing us to put her house back together but also make sure she can pay her bills, while she can’t go to work," Wright said.
If you or someone you know is in a situation involving domestic violence you can always reach out to talk to someone at the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.