"I can barely sleep;" carjacking victim recalls moments leading up to being shot in the face

DETROIT - "There's tears in my eyes."

It's an emotional response from the victim of a carjacking last week at a Detroit gas station.

"I see two males came out of nowhere," he said.

In surveillance footage released by the Detroit Police Department, two suspects approached the man while wearing gray sweatshirts. Footage shows they originally ask him for money, with hands behind their torsos. The victim handed over what he had after buying cigarettes. 

But he felt the two men wanted more than cash.

"I braced myself because I felt something wasn't right," the victim said. "That's when I saw the gun and that's when they shot me."

The bullet hit him in the face.

"It came on the side of my nose and out of the back of my ear," recalls the victim.

And with the frightening moments now comes the long process of recuperation - which hasn't been easy.

"I'm paranoid now," he said. "I can barely sleep. The swelling goes up and down - I'm in pain right now." 

Police have been using greenlight footage from another camera that has aided them in their investigation. That progress has also come with a warning.

"This is one senseless act of violence that did not need to happen to the victim," said Sgt. Shaun Dunning of the Detroit Police Department. "To a message to the two suspects, in this case, is we're going to find out who they are and we're going to arrest them so they need to turn themselves in as soon as possible."

As for the victim, he considers himself a blessed man.

"But I did thank our father or my guardian angel - whoever. Cause I wouldn't be here to tell my story right now," he said. "If you ask me, whoever carjacks, steals, robs, they're all cowards. Get a job, be a man, and put God first."