Austin hookah lounge gunshot survivor speaks out on recovery

AUSTIN, Texas - A gunshot survivor is speaking out. She was recovering after being hit by gunfire outside a Hookah Lounge in North Austin back in November. The shooter has not been caught yet.

The 23-year-old said she never thought this would happen to her, and although she doesn’t think she was the target, she was the one hit.

"I thought I was going to die," Azia Moore said.

Moore left the Ghost Hookah Lounge and was walking in the parking lot.

"I guess they were shooting back and forth across the parking lot," Moore said.

Azia, 22, is in the hospital after being shot outside of The Ghost Hookah Lounge in North Austin.

Surveillance video showed she was in the middle of it.

"I had took off running in front of this car and I flipped, I fell, I flipped off the curb, and I'm thinking I just fell from running," Moore said.

Moore had been shot.

"When I tried to get back up, my whole right leg, I couldn't get up," Moore said. "I remember them putting me in a car, I remember the police pulling me out of the car, them cutting my clothes off, and them putting me in the ambulance."

MORE: ‘Dangerous’: Hookah lounge warning from Austin father whose daughter was shot

Moore was shot in the stomach. The bullet hit her intestines and ureter. She’s left with 26 staples, a stent in her ureter and the nerves in her foot are damaged.

"I'm grateful I'm alive," Moore said.

This is just one of many incidents at this location.

"That's not the first time, but I never thought I'd be the one getting shot," Moore said.

Records obtained by FOX 7 show from January to November 2023, 60 911 calls came in for service at the Ghost Lounge. Austin police also said there are currently 12 open cases at that location.

The owner of the Ghost Hookah Lounge didn’t return our phone call for comment, but back in November, some of the staff assured FOX 7 the place was safe.

"It's just always a great place here to be, like there's never any problems," The Ghost Hookah Lounge DJ Egyptt Terry said.

"It’s a great place to come and sit and enjoy yourself without worrying about anything happening," The Ghost Hookah Lounge Promoter Lorenzo Hill said.

On the night of the shooting, The Ghost Lounge posted on social media and said they weren’t responsible for people’s actions in their parking lot. 

Moore said she doesn’t have a problem with the club but, "I just feel like y'all were inconsiderate because I was at y'alls club that night."

Moore started a GoFundMe to raise money while she recovers and can’t work.