Woman shot in the head working an Uber shift last week in Gulfport

Linda Buford was shot working her Uber shift last Friday by a passenger in Gulfport near Tennessee Street and Chicago Avenue.

Seventeen-year-old Trinyell Coats Jr. admitted to shooting Buford and has been charged with aggravated assault and taken to the Harrison County Jail with a bond set at $250,000.

Buford has been sharing her story and recovery status on Facebook. She said, “I was weaving around traffic, honking and literally flying, part in shock, going ‘OMG, OMG.’ Part of me worried about all the blood in the car, part of me literally was freaking out and then 911 couldn’t understand me. I said “I have been shot.’ She said ‘is this a kid?’ I was like omg I need to get to a crowd of people as fast as possible.”

To get help, Buford drove to Rouses Market on East Pass Road. She was airlifted to a hospital out of state where she had two surgeries.

She said, “Nose, tongue, eyes, and most of my mouth are already healing. I have fractures along my entire face, across the cheekbones down, but they are healing. Just a waiting game now and all future surgeries I believe are all cosmetic. They can’t believe that I can already talk.”

Buford does not plan to return to ride share work again. She wrote she is too scared and the market is too dangerous, but she considers herself lucky given her situation.