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“Really Lucky” 6-Year-Old, Shot In Classroom, Recovering After Rancho Tehama Rampage

RANCHO TEHAMA, Calif. (CBS News) — Despite a bullet that remains lodged in his chest, doctors say a 6-year-old California boy is making remarkable progress just...
young survivor

RANCHO TEHAMA, Calif. (CBS News) — Despite a bullet that remains lodged in his chest, doctors say a 6-year-old California boy is making remarkable progress just two weeks after he was shot twice during a gunman’s rampage through this rural town, reports CBS San Francisco.

Young Alejandro Hernandez was on lockdown with his classmates inside the Rancho Tehama Elementary School Nov. 14 when police say gunman Kevin Neal stormed the school and attempted to get inside, shooting through windows and walls. Alejandro was struck in the right lung and foot by a bullet that traveled through a wall, but his mother tells CBS San Francisco that doctors say his injuries could have been much worse.

“They say that he was really lucky because if it would’ve been in (the other) side, it would’ve hit his heart,” Angelica Monroy, the boy’s mother said.

Though the Rancho Tehama Elementary School reopened Monday, Alejandro told CBS San Francisco he doesn’t want to return to the building where Kevin Janson Neal opened fire, shooting the boy and more than a dozen other people across eight crime scenes. Five of the victims died.

“He’s scared,” Monroy said. “If he doesn’t feel okay to go, I’m not going to push him to go.”

Officials have credited the quick actions of school staff who heard gunshots and sheltered in place with students for averting what could have been a “horrific bloodbath.”

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