Over the previous weekend, a boy of 9 years from Atlanta came terrifyingly close to losing his life in his sleep in an unexpected drive-by shooting episode. A bullet pierced through his back, traveled down to his leg and lodged itself close to a major blood vessel. The incident compelled his uncle to respond with gunfire in an attempt to protect his family, explains the child’s aunt.
The young lad recalled his unsettling experience upon his discharge from the hospital, with the bullet still encapsulated inside him. ‘I was sleeping and out of nowhere, I felt this pain and started crying. I was bleeding and I had no idea what was happening – that those were gunshots,’ he narrated.
Choosing to maintain her anonymity, the boy’s aunt revealed that the doctors had deliberated over operating to remove the bullet from his leg. They anticipated risking possible paralysis in the event of an extraction procedure, thus deciding against it.
The unfortunate event occurred in the wee hours of Saturday, around 3.45 a.m. The culprits, as caught on the CCTV footage, were from two distinct vehicles, who callously opened fire on the boy’s residence.
According to the aunt’s account, the bullet had traveled from the boy’s back into his leg, where it stayed very near to an essential artery. If it had been extracted, the boy stood the danger of losing his ability to walk.
The security camera footage showed the culprits driving up to the child’s residence and halting momentarily. In the chilling moment that ensued, they discharged multiple rounds at the house, then hurriedly sped away in their respective cars.
The boy’s aunt also expressed that her husband didn’t merely stand by during the assault. ‘He responded with gunfire,’ the aunt confirmed, ‘however, we cannot be certain if his shots hit anyone or not.’
Initially, the family revealed that they were unsure if any person got injured in this act of violence, or if their dwelling had even been the intended target. They also confessed their ignorance about the motivations that led to their ordeal.
The family’s home isn’t the only one in their vicinity to have suffered from such a crime. As per the aunt’s report, there is another nearby home that has been the unfortunate victim of multiple similar drive-by shootings.
She gave more information about their home, stating, ‘Our house seems identical to the other one that was targeted. He was lying on the ground, bleeding from his back, and I asked if he was okay.’
Post the shooting, the boy was immediately rushed to the nearest healthcare facility. Despite their best efforts, however, the medical practitioners were left with no choice but to keep the bullet lodged inside his leg given the high risk involved in its removal.
As stated by his aunt, the decision on how to proceed will be held off for a few weeks. The plan is to wait and closely monitor the situation to ensure the bullet does not move and create further complications.
For the time being, the health staff plans on tracking the bullet’s position in the boy’s body. The doctors will then decide on the next course of action, likely to involve surgery, basing their decision on the bullet’s movement inside the boy’s body.
His aunt explained, ‘The doctors have advised us to wait for a while and observe if the bullet migrates while inside him. Only then will we be able to determine if surgery can be performed.’