Texas mom celebrating son's induction into Naval Academy shot by stray bullet outside Annapolis hotel

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Mom killed before son's induction into US Naval Academy

Michelle Cummings slain in senseless gunfire, friend says she wishes it was 'bad dream'

A Texas mother who drove to Annapolis, Maryland, to watch her son join the U.S. Naval Academy died after she was hit by a stray bullet early Tuesday while outside her hotel, a friend tells Fox News.

Michelle Jordan Cummings, 57, made the long drive from Houston to Annapolis with her husband for what they believed would be the "proudest moment of their lives." The couple was outside The Graduate Hotel when shots rang out at approximately 12:20 a.m. Cummings was hit by a stray bullet.

"It’s so hard to put into words. Really just trying to console the family and being there for them. Just waking up every day, praying this is just a bad dream and it’s not true," Shawna Moore, a family friend, told "The Story" on Thursday.

Moore said she spoke to an "excited" Cummings a day earlier. Their sons are childhood friends.

"She called me. She was gloating that she was there with my son. As you know…in the Naval Academy, they’re limited to when they can come home. I haven’t seen them in a few weeks,"  Moore recalled. "So she knew how much I was missing him, so she Facetimed me so I could see my son. She was giving him kisses and hugs for me. She was just so excited." 

"Her face was glowing, telling me all about the induction and the picnic. One of the parents brought shirts with the boys’ names on it," Moore added. "She was so excited. Because I didn’t get to experience that the year before when I took my son because of COVID. So she said I’m going to share this moment with you because I know you want to see… I promise I’m going to video and Facetime and make sure you’re involved."

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Cummings' son, Leonard Cummings III, a Naval football prospect, spoke with his mother just hours before the shooting.  He took to Twitter on Tuesday, posting a succinct message: "Why?"

 Edward Jackson, the Annapolis police chief, encouraged the shooter to turn himself in before warning, "We're coming after you.’"