Shot in a drive by
February 15, 2018 started like a normal Thursday. I went to work and school and picked my son up from after care. We stopped at Target before picking up other son from preschool. Because we took a slightly different route than normal, and because we were looking at houses to buy in the neighborhood, I decided to take the road behind the school instead. I turned onto what I quickly realized was a cul-de-sac right behind the school and there were a group of four younger guys walking in the road. I remember having a fleeting thought that they made me feel uncomfortable but I was focused on turning around and getting out of there. All of sudden it felt like the world was crashing down on my car and it took me about 45 seconds to process what was happening. I realized I was shot at least once in my left hand, and I wasn’t sure where else. I screamed to make sure my son was okay, thankfully he was. I saw the guys running off to the right. So I drove on the curb to the left, through the grass and playground, over the baseball fields, and to the front of the school for help. I was in shock at that point and don’t remember any of it. There was a little girl standing outside who buzzed us in when she saw me running up bleeding. They got us in, locked down the school (with my other son still inside), and called 911. Thankfully the nurse was still there for the day and helped me. The ambulance got me to the hospital within 5 minutes and realized on the way there that I was shot twice. Once in my left hand that entered below my middle knuckle and out my middle finger, and once in my right shoulder and that bullet never exited. If had surgery on shoulder to remove the fragment and casing, and one reconstructive ligament and tendon surgery on my hand. Thankfully I only have minor nerve damage in my shoulder, arm, and hand. However, it’s been roughly six months since I’ve had a fully functioning hand but I’m making progress in OT and PT. I found out later that there was someone in a car behind us targeting the guys walking in the road due to a robbery or previous feud on a different day and that we were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
