Man sitting in Greenville apartment hit when car plows into building after shooting

WITN reports a 2000 Nissan Maxima drove through a fence and crashed into a first-floor apartment at The District at Tar River apartment complex on First Street.

The driver, Aveon Isaiah Collins-Smith, 25, had been shot in the chest. Despite lifesaving efforts, Collins-Smith died at ECU Health Medical Center.

WITN News spoke with Caleb White, who said he was sitting inside his apartment living room when the car crashed through his wall and hit him.

White said he heard gunshots before the car crashed into his living room.

"At first I thought it was a muffler going off or a car misfiring," he said. "I didn't have time to react or anything, it just hit me. The whole place went dark. I saw this light flash in my face and I got knocked back 5 to 10 feet into my front door."

The crash knocked out power to White's apartment, so as he laid discombobulated in the dark, he screamed for help.

"The smoke in the living room, I couldn't really tell what was going on and I didn't know if the car was going to blow up or if something was going to catch on fire," White described. "I was just asking the people above me to call for help and call the police because I couldn't even assess how injured I was."

White was taken to the hospital to get stitches, and while he continues to heal from his own injuries, he said he's still processing what happened.

"I'm just happy that I'm here," White said. "I'm just happy that I'm alive. Nothing is really promised. Just take it with stride."

He said he likely won't pick a first-floor apartment ever again.

Apartment managers said White and his upstairs neighbor will be moved into new units because the structure of the building is unstable following the accident.

The District is popular with East Carolina University students, but police said White and the driver were not students.