7-year-old shot while playing video games in Fayetteville will be remembered for his hugs, mom says

Zion Gibbs, a 7-year-old boy, was shot in the face on Friday, June 7, while playing video games inside his Fayetteville home. He died a few days later.

WRAL News on Wednesday sat down with Zion's mother, Myra Gibbs, who remembers hearing gunfire outside before she ran downstairs and found her son in a pool of blood.

Myra Gibbs said Zion was inside their home on Danish Drive, playing Fortnite, when he was hit by a bullet from a drive-by shooter's gun. Zion was transported to UNC Medical Center in Chapel Hill, where he died days later from his injuries. His funeral was held June 19.

Myra Gibbs told WRAL News her son was eating cheese fries from Kickback Jack’s, one of his favorite restaurants, and playing Fortnite on his Nintendo Switch on the couch when shots rang out.

Zion had just told his mother he would be ready for bed soon before the shots were fired.

“[The gunshots] were getting close … when I heard it hit the house I was already downstairs," Myra Gibbs described.

Her 18-year-old twins, Zion’s older siblings, crouched down when they heard the shots, and Myra Gibbs called out for her son.

"I called Zion’s name … and that’s when he was crouched over on the floor," she said.

Myra Gibbs said six bullets hit her home. One broke through a window and hit Zion in the face.

At first, Myra Gibbs said she didn’t realize her son had been shot.

“I honestly thought he threw up from eating the cheese fries. I did not think my baby was shot," she said.

Myra Gibbs, who works as a 911 operator, called 911 and started CPR and chest compressions.

"That's when the 911 kicked in ... and I never thought that I would have the emergency," she said.

There has been no information on a suspect, and no arrest has been made.

Myra Gibbs said, as Zion's mother, “I am getting a little antsy and impatient," although she said she knows investigators are working diligently to find the shooter.

Myra Gibbs said Zion, a rising second grader at Benjamin Martin Elementary School, was looking forward to starting summer camp the following week. He was also excited to see his older siblings, who had just graduated from high school, attend college.

Myra Gibbs said her son wanted to be a firefighter when he was older. To honor Zion, firefighters emblazoned a firefighters' uniform with the boy's name for his family to keep. A parade was also held with first responders, including several firetrucks and the emergency workers who responded to the shooting.

At Zion's funeral, the boy was saluted by firefighters, and Myra Gibbs designed the funeral program to resemble a comic book, because Zion loved superheroes.

Myra Gibbs said she will most miss Zion's smile and his hugs. She said she and Zion had big plans to spend time together as her older children leave home and begin their adult lives.

"I still don't believe it at times ... I was forced to become an empty nester," she said. "This little boy didn't deserve this."

Myra Gibbs is urging anyone who knows anything about the shooting to come forward, even anonymously.

“If you know something, just say something. I don’t want this to happen to any other kid," she said.

Investigators are asking residents to check their doorbell and security cameras to see if they contain any video that might help them locate a suspect. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact Detective C. Crews at 910-751-1046.

Myra Gibbs said so many of Zion's dreams will never come true.

"When you look at his death certificate ... he'll never have a spouse," she said. "He'll never have an occupation ... he wanted to be a firefighter. He'll never wear this uniform."

Family and friends have set up a GoFundMe to help pay for Zion's funeral expenses.