7-year-old Georgia boy in critical condition after being shot randomly while watching TV with family

ATLANTA — Police continue to search for the gunman who shot into a home and hit a 7-year-old boy.

The incident happened over the weekend in Macon, but the child is now being cared for at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta near Emory Hospital.

Channel 2′s Tom Regan learned that Neco Flowers remains in critical condition, but his mother said he is showing signs of improvement.

His mother, Regina Flowers, wants those responsible for the shooting held accountable.

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Regina Flowers said Neco was watching TV and playing video games Saturday night at their home, when bullets suddenly came flying through windows and walls.

“We heard the pow, pow. It sounded like firecrackers,” Flowers said. “When I got close to him, I just saw blood coming out of his mouth.”

One of the stray shots struck Neco in the neck. His mom ran in from another room and held her bleeding son in her arms.

“He closed his eyes and laid there for a minute, and I was like, ‘Neco, you said you was going to stay with mama.’ And I said, ‘Someone is coming to help you,’ and he opened his eyes back up,” Flowers said.

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Doctors told the mother the bullet took a strange path after hitting the child. It fractured a neck bone and flew out of his mouth.

He’s partially paralyzed on his left side, but Flowers said she’s confident he’ll completely regain movement.

“Today he tried. He wiggled his toes, but he ain’t able to move his arm at all,” Flowers said. “He’s alert and he’s awake. They took the tube out of his mouth. When they started changing the neck brace, he said, ‘Why are you trying to take it off?’ And I heard that. I said, ‘Well, that’s OK.’”

Flowers told Regan whoever fired the shots may have been in a gunbattle, or mistakenly shot at their place.

“It was wrong to just shoot or think of hurting anybody,” Flowers said.

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And though Neco has a long road of recovery ahead, Flowers said she believes in miracles.

“God came through. He protected my child.”

So far, no suspects have been arrested.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family with medical bills.

Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office at 478-751 -7500 or Macon Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-877-68CRIME.

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