Plainfield clerk shot and beaten with chair

PLAINFIELD, N.J. (WABC) -- A store clerk in New Jersey was shot, beaten, and left for dead.

Zoila Nova came home late Thursday night, still in tons of pain, but amazingly lucky.

That guy destroyed my life, she said, as she showed off the staples in her head and her bruised and battered body.

"She's really lucky that she's still with us," said Juana Blanca, the victim's stepdaughter.

It happened at the store Nova owns in Plainfield.

In broad daylight Saturday, surveillance cameras captured a man walking up Park Avenue.

He walked into her store and asked to see some perfume.

That's when her stepdaughter says the man shot Nova in the chest.

"I believe he was trying to steal. But he at no point said, 'Oh, give me the money,' or anything like that. It's really strange," Blanca said.

The bullet passed right through her chest, lodging itself in the wall.

Police say the man tried to fire again, but his gun jammed, so he beat Nova on the head with a chair before running away.

Two passersby chased after him and held him until police could place him under arrest.

Now, Nova says she may never set foot in her store again.

"She's a hard working woman. I don't think she will come back. It's going to bring a lot of bad memories," Blanca said.

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