Kentucky fan shot in the Vista wants ‘to return to the scene of the crime’

The Kentucky football fan who was badly injured in a shooting in Columbia’s Vista last weekend is making strides in her recovery and has “a desire to return to the scene of the crime,” her boyfriend wrote on Facebook on Friday.

Denise Massey was one of eight people shot when gunfire erupted outside the Empire Supper Club in the early morning hours of Saturday, Sept. 16. A state lawmaker’s niece, Kristie Logan, also was among the victims.

She and her boyfriend, Jimmy Brannon, were in town for the University of Kentucky’s football game against the University of South Carolina.

Almost a week after suffering a gunshot to the face, Massey is sitting up, telling jokes and smiling in her hospital room in Columbia, Brannon said Friday on Facebook.

“Denise got up sat in the chair, can talk well, recalls the wonderful time we were having, friendly people we met,” Brannon wrote in a public Facebook post.

Earlier in the day, he wrote, “I’ve wondered what she remembers about the night of the shooting.... but havent brought it up....the picture in my head of her being hit is bad enough for me.”

Massey has been OK’d to be released from the hospital’s intensive care unit, but her release date is still unknown, Brannon wrote.

The man accused of shooting Massey, John Earl Bates Jr., faces seven counts of attempted murder in connection with the shooting, which Columbia police say stemmed from disputes among groups in the music industry.

Three others have been charged alongside Bates: Maleik Houseal, Keveas Gallman and Jarvis Tucker.

Police have permanently shut down the Empire Supper Club, the nightclub where the dispute originated that night.

This story was originally published September 22, 2017 at 5:16 PM with the headline "Kentucky fan shot in the Vista wants ‘to return to the scene of the crime’."