SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – A decorated Army soldier recovering from injuries suffered in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan has been shot at his homecoming party, and family members say he’s paralyzed and in critical condition.
Christopher Sullivan, 22, was shot late Friday while trying to break up a fight between his brother and another man at a San Bernardino, California, residence.
“My son didn’t deserve this. He served his country,” his mother, Suzanne Sullivan, told the San Bernardino Sun newspaper.
Suzanne Sullivan said her son suffered two gunshot wounds to his back, which shattered his spine. Family members told the newspaper that the shooting late Friday left Sullivan paralyzed and in critical condition.
Police said Sullivan’s brother and a partygoer got into an argument over football. When Sullivan moved to intervene, the man pulled a gun and opened fire.
The gunman fled the scene before police arrived.
Sullivan was wounded in a suicide bombing attack last year in Kandahar while serving with the 101st Infantry Division. He suffered a cracked collar bone and brain damage in the attack and has been recovering in Kentucky where he is stationed. He was awarded a Purple Heart medal for being wounded in combat.
Sullivan was home on leave when the shooting occurred.
“To come home to this, it’s so unfair,” his aunt Theresa Marquez told the newspaper.
His enlistment would be complete in April, after which Sullivan had planned to come home to go to college.
Family members are calling on the shooter to surrender.
Police have not identified the suspect.
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