Gabrielle Union has admitted that she tried to shoot the man who raped her, E!Online is reporting. The admission comes after one of her fans asked her on Twitter what she thought of Rihanna’s controversial new video ‘Man Down,’ and the actress said the video is true to life.

The fan’s question came after the ‘Army Wives’ actress asked her Twitter followers how to better combat violence against women and children. While Union initially said she hadn’t yet seen the ‘Man Down’ video, she later tweeted that “Every victim/survivor of rape is unique, including how they think they’d like justice to be handed out.”

Union then tweeted that “During my rape I tried to shoot my rapist, but I missed.” She also said that she later realized that killing her rapist wouldn’t have helped her heal. “The desire to kill someone whose abused/raped you is understandable, but unless its self-defense in the moment to save your life, it just adds to your troubles.”

The actress has candidly spoken about her rape before, and has become an advocate for the government’s support of rape crisis centers. But this was the first time Union admitted that she tried to shoot her attacker, who raped her at the store she worked at when she was 19 years old.

Union also tweeted that she thinks the ‘Man Down’ video “did a great job of getting the entire world talking about rape. I hope that it leads to healing and prevents rape.”

Written by: Karen Benardello

Gabrielle Union