Update: Dylan, (I've spelled his name incorrectly before I see) is now in stable condition, although he is still in critical care. It seems clear that he will live. However, what is still unknown is whether or not he will be able to fully recover. The bullet did do some damage to his lung, and that was able to be repaired, but there was also damage to his spinal cord. We truly don't know at this time if he will ever be able to walk again, but hey, we can all pray for his full recovery. He is young and very healthy, so that will be a help.
I've learned more about the shooting itself. The young man who shot Dylan was cleaning his .22 rifle when it went off. The bullet traveled through the front screen door of the house and hit Dylan as Dylan was walking towards the door. The range was about 12 feet. I think already God must have plans for this kid as taking a .22 in the chest at that range and still being alive is pretty much a miracle right there.
Now for an addition to this mess. This is not the first time the 20 year old has been the cause of tragedy. A couple of years back, I put in a prayer request for the family of a man and his 3 little girls who had to swerve off the road because of an improperly secured load of pipes that fell off the back of a truck, and they were all killed when the car wound up in the river. Well, this 20 year old was the 18 year old back then who did not properly secure the pipes. So, this young man is responsible for the deaths of a man, 3 little girls and the shooting of a 15 year old boy who may never walk again. So, he needs prayer as well. Lot's of prayer.
And, he needs love and compassion as well. I can pray for him, but I have to admit, I'll need some help with the love and compassion part, as do a lot of people in this very small community. I think the thing is, everyone can understand and forgive a freak accident like the improperly loaded pipes, even though the young man had a responsibility to secure those pipes. But, 18 is young and mistakes happen. Everyone in our community pulled together, including the surviving members of the family, because of his youth and how horrible he must have felt.
Now he's 20. He's been the cause of 4 deaths. The expectation would have been that he would have grown up fast and been wiser. But, through further carelessness, he managed to bring a loaded rifle into a house and set it off where a bunch of kids were running around. Compassion and love aren't at the forefront of everyone's mind right now.
BUT IT NEEDS TO BE. It truly does. I don't want to feel compassion for him, because anger is too much in the way, but I need to get that under control, as do many others around here. We have 4 people dead, and one boy who may never recover, we also need to pray that this young man can somehow, someway, be made whole again as well. If he suicides because of overwhelming guilt, then that will just be more tragedy and frankly this community has had enough tragedy.