An 8-year-old California boy was left paralyzed from the neck down after being struck by a stray bullet during a highway shootout — with well-wishers so moved they’ve raised more than $1 million in just a week.
The boy, only identified as Asa, had just been picked up from camp and was heading for dinner with his grandparents on July 14 when shots rang out on I-580 in Oakland, according to KTVU.
Witnesses called 911 to report people in two separate cars “shooting at each other” — as well as “an unrelated vehicle” that pulled over “after being struck by the gunfire,” said the California Highway Patrol, which is still hunting for suspects.
“An 8-year-old boy was seated in the vehicle and struck by a bullet that came from one of the two vehicles,” police added, saying the shot boy was rushed to an area hospital in “grave condition.”
Asa was left paralyzed from the neck down and needing a mechanical respirator and feeding tubes, his family said in a GoFundMe started a week ago.
“Initially, we had no idea if our sweet boy would live,” they wrote.
“But he is a fighter … Asa is not only alive, but he’s making us laugh, reading his favorite books and requesting songs by Imagine Dragons,” they wrote.
“His intellect, his spirit, and his love of life are very much intact.”
The family sought $500,000 to “help Asa thrive” — but by Thursday had collected more than double that.
“The amount of money we’ve raised is astonishing,” they said Wednesday as the tally soared over $1 million.
“We could not be more grateful, humbled or awed by the 8,700 of you who have already supported us here,” they wrote of those who have donated, including one anonymous benefactor who gave $17,000.
“Feeling buoyed by your love and support is a gift beyond measure.”
The $1 million would cover the amount Asa’s family had been told it will cost them in the first year to care for him and modify their home for his needs.
That will include a hospital bed and generators for his breathing apparatus, as well as a power wheelchair and a special van to transport him, the family said.
They vowed to donate any extra donations to groups “working to prevent gun violence or support families whose lives have been impacted by it — as ours have.”
No one has been arrested in the shooting and officers are still seeking information on possible suspects.
“Never in a million years could we have predicted how Asa’s life – and all of our lives — would change so quickly, and completely,” Asa’s family wrote. ” We are grieving, grateful and angry.”
John Torres, associate director of Youth ALIVE!, an Oakland-based organization that works with families affected by gun violence, said his group is in contact with Asa’s parents.
“There is a road ahead that may present a lot of challenges. This is where our intensive support and services do kick in. We help families navigate those systems and search for resources that may be applicable in cases like this,” Torres told ABC 7 News.
