Shooting leaves marks on survivors

Mary A. Castillo and Suzie Harrison

The past three weeks have been painful ones for Jacques Nenijian,

26, and Michelle Estele, 23.

The two survivors of last month’s dramatic shooting outside the

Herb Import Co. say they have been through emotional highs and lows

since 26-year-old robbery suspect Nathaniel James O’Connor, walked

into the store.

After intensive surgeries to repair the damage caused by a gunshot

to the back -- including repairing his lung and diaphragm -- Nenijian

can sit up and walk for short periods of time. Estele, who has been

at his side, even sleeping on a small bed set up by the window in his

hospital room, hopes doctors will release him next week.

“That first week in ICU was traumatic,” she said.

The pain and anti-anxiety medications given to Nenijian caused

confusion and short term memory loss. For the first two days after he

arrived at Mission Hospital, he couldn’t talk.

“He wrote messages to me on paper,” Estele recalled. “He’s

building up his strength and endurance. By Christmas, he should be

good to go.”

Nenijian is in no hurry to leave.

“I’m not ready to leave today,” Nenijian added with a hint of a

smile. “I don’t want to go home in this condition where I’m dependent

on other people.”

Although three weeks have passed since that fateful Wednesday

afternoon, the shadows still loom over the couple.

“I don’t know what I think,” he admitted. “It’s hard to tell

what’s real. I don’t remember much. It’s a blur to me.”

Estele recalled that O’Connor walked into the store some time

before 2 p.m. Although she sensed something was wrong with him, she

answered his questions and even wrapped up some products. But when

she started to ring up his purchases, he came around the counter

holding a gun.

“When it was happening it was unreal,” she said. “In my head I

kept saying this is fake.”

Estele said O’Connor told her to sit down and then cleared out the

cash register. He took her out from behind the counter and demanded

that Nenijian stand up, lay facedown on the floor and put his hands

behind his back.

“[O’Connor] handcuffed Jacques with the gun in his hand,” Estele

said.

The gun went off, shooting Nenijian in the back.

“It felt like a burn, and I remember the smell of gunpowder,”

Nenijian recalled.

Leaving Nenijian in the front of the store, O’Connor later told

Estele that he was sorry and that he didn’t mean to shoot while he

stuffed merchandise in a duffel bag. Within minutes, she heard police

sirens and began to worry what O’Connor might do next.

“I was thinking of all the movies I’ve ever seen,” she said.

“There was no way out except for the front door. I was terrified for

my own life and thinking of Jacques laying out in the front.”

O’Connor walked out, and Estele remembers hearing the officers get

out of their cars and talking. Unknown to her, Nenijian escaped to

the neighboring real estate office.

“He took two steps out the door and started shooting,” she said.

She ran into the bathroom, locked the door and began working on a

small window to escape. While listening to the gunfight and police

shouting to each other, she prayed for the ordeal to end.

After police fatally wounded O’Connor, Estele emerged from the

bathroom, desperate to find out where Nenijian was and how he was

doing. After finding him police detectives and Orange County district

attorney investigators interviewed her until 8 p.m. that night.

“I still see [O’Connor’s] face, the gun in my head,” Estele said.

After she learned of his history with drugs, some of her anger

lessened.

“It was easier to forgive him,” she said. “He was a 26-year-old

guy who was really messed up on drugs. If he had gotten help, he

might’ve had a chance.”

“I feel sad for his family,” Nenijian added. “In some ways I might

have been him. I haven’t always made the smartest decisions. He was a

sick young man.”

As traumatic as that experience was, it has also ushered in a

sense of hope. Both have quit smoking. Both have been overwhelmed by

the kindness of strangers and friends who have flooded them with

calls and prayers. There are plans for a community-wide benefit to

help Nenijian with medical bills, Estele said.