Federal judge's wife wants prayers for men who shot her husband, says don't hate Detroit
The wife of a federal judge who was shot and wounded in the knee outside their Detroit home last Thursday says the two perpetrators apparently felt hopeless and called for prayers on their behalf.
U.S. District Judge Terrence Berg had walked a friend to the car and was taking in the garbage cans when he was approached by the two males. They tried to force Berg, 55, into his home and then shot him when he refused. He had surgery on Friday and will undergo more surgery on Monday. The Detroit Free Press and the Associated Press have stories.
Berg and his wife, Anita Sevier, spoke with the Detroit Free Press. Sevier said she appreciates that people are praying for her husband and the family. “I would like prayers for these two young men,” she added.
“I feel more than ever,” Sevier told the newspaper, “we’ve got to get our kids a good education so they can get a job, so they can provide, so they feel proud, so they have meaning to their life. Unfortunately, I guess, these two men felt hopeless and made choices I don’t agree with and made choices that I wish they hadn’t.” Sevier is a special projects coordinator at Gesu Catholic School.
Berg described the shooting from his hospital room on Saturday. He was on his porch near the door when one of the men said, “I’m not trying to harm you. We just want to go inside your house,” Berg told the Detroit Free Press. “I have a gun,” he told the judge.
Berg says he said, “No, no, no,” and one of the men pulled a semiautomatic pistol from his jacket. “As soon as I raise my voice,” Berg said, “he shoots me. Bam!”
The attackers fled and the couple’s son called 911. Sevier cursed at the men as they fled, and then got on the phone with 911. Two neighbors came to help, including an emergency room physician who slipped on the ice and fell on Berg. The physician asked for a belt to act as a tourniquet, while a stranger driving by also stopped to help.
Sevier said the shooting is not a reason to hate Detroit, while Berg said the response “really is the story of Detroit.”
“You have one guy who shoots another guy on a front porch. And then another guy we don’t know stops to see how he can help,” Berg told the newspaper. “”It doesn’t mean Detroit’s safe. But it’s part of what Detroit is — very, very good people and some not-so-good.”
The FBI has offered a $25,000 reward in the case.
