RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) - Two men were fighting, with firepower, and an innocent seven-year-old boy was caught in the crossfire.
A bullet pierced his right side, going through his diaphragm and stomach, grazing his liver and large intestine before making an exit.
Who pulled the trigger? Police are still trying to figure that out.
The boy and his mother were outside the Fine Food store off Government Road last month. His mom didn't want us to use her name or her son's name.
She said the shooting has shaken her nerves so badly, they've packed their things up and moved away from the East End.
"He's frightened of loud noises and stuff like that,” she said Thursday. “We have a lot to swallow right now."
She said on Feb. 18, she and her second-grade son were about to walk into the store to get something to eat. They were still in the car when two men got into a heated confrontation. Shots were fired which went through her rear passenger door.
The violence has forever changed the boy’s life. He’s back at school but still faces several surgeries.
"Police gotta’ do what they gotta’ do,” she said. “I've got to do what's best for me and my son's well-being. They catch them, then good job."
Police sources tell me clues in this case have gone about as cold as that night. Witnesses say they heard at least six shots.
It happened so fast, the boy’s mother said she couldn't wait for an ambulance. "If I didn't take him to the hospital, he would've died in that store," she said.
There is surveillance video of the shooting which police have yet to release.
The little boy’s mom is urging them to do so. She wants the public to see just how traumatic and careless the men were, and how close they were to taking an innocent life.
