A BOY has been left fighting for his life after being shot in the head while looking at Christmas lights with his family.
Zachariah Bannister’s distraught mom shared a heartbreaking photo of her 8-year-old son and said she was “praying” for her “sweetest little boy.”
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The horrific shooting took place on Sunday, December 10 – just days after Zachariah, who goes by Zack, had celebrated his eighth birthday, reported KFOR.
His mom, Nichole Groshong, said the family was making deliveries in a southwest Lawton, Oklahoma, neighborhood in the run-up to Christmas break.
She had stopped occasionally to show them festive decorations while accompanied by her two sons and mother-in-law.
Zack, his grandma, and his brother Waylon had been enjoying the Christmas lights when suddenly shots rang out.
Groshong said she had just put the car in reverse and was backing the vehicle when gunfire exploded around them.
She added of the traumatic experience: “It sounded like somebody was throwing fireworks at the car. Their grandma was like, ‘They’re shooting at us, go, go, go.’
“So I threw it (into) drive and I started getting out of there.”
Waylon immediately told her that his brother had been hit – but he couldn’t see which part of his body.
‘ZACK’S BLEEDING’
“He was like, ‘Zack’s bleeding.’ Then his little head started falling over toward his shoulders,” the mom recalled.
Incredibly, Waylon helped save his bleeding brother by urging him to stay awake.
Groshong added: “His brother said, ‘Zack, you can’t go to sleep, you can’t go to sleep.'”
She told KFOR: “My son, he didn’t deserve it. He is just like the sweetest little boy.”
On a GoFundMe page, she explained: “I was backing up to a house to show my kids the Christmas decorations, when someone started shooting at my car.
“I drove away as fast as I could.
“I drove as fast as I could to the hospital while my oldest kept his little brother awake all the way to the hospital, and they said that was the best thing he could have done.”
Once at the children’s hospital, the shocked family was told the boy had been “shot in the head because we were looking at Christmas lights – and now he is in ICU.”
FRACTURED SKULL
Zack was left in a critical condition after suffering a fractured skull, the doctors told the stricken family.
Then, in a further heartbreaking update posted to the fundraising site yesterday, the mom said: “He has a blood clot by the skull fracture.
“They put him on blood thinners, and hopefully the medication breaks up the blood clot, or they may have to go remove it.
“I am praying the blood thinners work.”
She added: “He has lost most of his strength. He can’t sit up without help, he also has to have help staying sitting up once he is sat up.
“He barely has any strength left in his little legs.
“They still have him in ICU… he has to be in the ICU until the blood clot is taken care of.
“He is talking, but it takes him extra time to process what is being said to him… they said he will get angry and frustrated easily and more often than normal.
“They said that it is normal with head trauma patients.”
ARREST MADE
Groshong said she was “so proud” of her brave boy, as she thanked supporters for donating about $15,000 toward medical costs.
A spokesperson for the Lawton Police Department said Jullian Phillips has been arrested in connection to the shooting, and charged with assault with a deadly weapon.
The spokesperson added that investigators believe the shooting was random and unprovoked, and that Phillips is unknown to Zack’s family.
Ahead of the festive break, the force warned on Facebook today: “We are only one week away from Christmas!
“As you venture out to get the last of your Christmas shopping done, we want to remind everyone to prioritize safety.”
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