DETROIT (WXYZ) — An entire community is mourning as Detroit police continue to investigate a shootout that killed an innocent woman late Friday night.
It happened near W. McNichols Road and Littlefield Street around midnight Friday night across from Sloppy Chops Restaurant.
Two groups fighting fired multiple shots at each other, with a stray bullet going into the restaurant killing 30-year-bartender Alex Johnson, who was simply inside doing her job.
The restaurant has been closed since the shooting happened as employees, friends and family continue to grieve.
“I'm crying a little less, but I can't talk about it without crying,” Alex's mother Charlotte Johnson said. "She is the sweetest kid you would ever know and be around.”
It’s been a tough four nights for Charlotte Johnson and her family, grappling with the loss of her daughter.
“People gravitated to her. She gravitated to them," Charlotte Johnson said. "They loved her — she loved them back.”
Alex Johnson was a bartender at Sloppy Chops for about a year and a half. She was working Friday night when an argument started outside. The owner says Alex Johnson stood on a chair to look out the window and see what was going on when suddenly, shots rang out. A single bullet struck her in the head.
“This is traumatic to lose a child period, and for her to have been shot for no reason... is just traumatic," Charlotte Johnson said. "It boggles my mind. It hurts."
Charlotte Johnson says Alex was adopted at 3 months old and grew up in Southfield. Her family says she was brave, hard working and had a support system bigger than they could have imagined.
"Alex was really a special person. She touched all of our lives in some type of way,” Sloppy Chops owner Gerald Goodwin said.
Goodwin said Alex Johnson was the lead bartender and had an infectious attitude that touched every employee and customer. He wants the restaurant to be a positive influence in the neighborhood and on young kids, vowing to stand up to this senseless crime and make a difference in her name.
“She was a great employee. She was such a beautiful soul and to lose her to that, we can't let her name die in vain,” Goodwin said.
In the wake of her death, tributes to Alex Johnson have poured in, which is a reminder to her family that she was loved and won’t be forgotten.
“That does your heart good to know that we are not the only ones that are going to miss her," Charlotte Johnson said. "We're not the only ones that grew to know and love her.”
Alex's sister Charnae Johnson added, “It's a beautiful thing to see that so many people also appreciated my sister and what she was bringing to this world.”
Alex Johnson’s funeral will be held on Sept. 6.
Detroit police say two other people were injured in the shooting, but they are still searching for the suspects. If you know anything about the incident, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
