‘I pray my child will be Ok:’ Mother recalls moment 12-year-old son was shot while sleeping in bed

ATLANTA — A mother wants to move after her son was shot while sleeping in his bedroom Thursday morning.

Bullets hit 12-year-old Deng Aguer in the shoulder and forearm. One of the bullets is still lodged in his back, said his mother, Aliet Aguer. She remains by his side at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta while he awaits surgery to remove it.

“I just pray my child will be okay. That’s the only thing I pray to God,” said Aliet Aguer.

Atlanta police said at midnight the shooting happened after midnight. Officers believe someone stood outside a home on Lakewood Trail SE and shot inside of it.

Aguer said she and her three children inside were all asleep at the time.

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“They shot my room, then his room, then my other son’s room,” said Aliet Aguer.

She and her other two children were not hit.

One neighbor, Eric Williams, said he heard the gunfire.

“As neighbors, it’s too close to home. It could have been my home. It could have been me,” said Williams. “It’s going to be terrifying trying to sleep at night.”

Police have not said if the shooter targeted the Aguer home on purpose. However, neighbors said they couldn’t imagine that would be the case.

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“Nothing ever goes on there. It’s literally her and her kids,” said Williams. “Her kids just come and go to school, play basketball in the neighborhood, that’s it.”

Aguer pleaded for the gun violence to stop.

“My child, he’s innocent. He’s a baby. You can’t go to people’s houses and start shooting people for no reason,” said Aguer.

So far police have not made an arrests. Officers would not confirm how many suspects they are searching for in this case.

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