Marine Gabriel Heefner of Kirkwood, who was shot in the head while driving to his grandparent's house on Oct. 17 | gofundme.com/f/gabe-hefner-hospital-bills
Marine Gabriel Heefner of Kirkwood, who was shot in the head while driving to his grandparent's house on Oct. 17 | gofundme.com/f/gabe-hefner-hospital-bills
The unintended shooting last month of a Kirkwood Marine, who remains hospitalized but his family reports some progress, was "senseless," a Missouri woman said in a recent social media post.
In a post to her Facebook page, Wilatrel Rice of Spanish Lake, Missouri, also implied the alleged shooter, who has since turned himself in to Iowa City law enforcement, was irresponsible.
Wilatrel Rice of Spanish Lake, Missouri
| facebook.com/WilatrelRice
"So senseless," Rice said in her Saturday, Nov. 6, Facebook post. "Way too many guns. Irresponsible gun owners."
Rice's Facebook post linked to KSDK 5 NBC's news story published the day prior about Philip Olson, 69, of Iowa City, turning himself in after he heard that Marine Gabriel Heefner of Kirkwood had been injured Oct. 17.
Olson, who reportedly said he was shooting an air rifle at a squirrel from inside his home and missed, faces various violations against Iowa Department of Natural Resources regulations.
Heefner, 20, was driving back to his grandparents’ house the night of Oct. 17 when he was shot in the head, according to local news reports and information on his GoFundMe page.
The GoFundMepage was set up to help pay Heefner's medical bills.
"They (Heefner's health care team) say it is incredible that he survived, and he could talk and respond upon entrance to the trauma center," the GoFundMe page said. "Now it is just a waiting game to see how he responds once he regains full consciousness."
Earlier this week, Heefner was able to feed himself a pureed breakfast "with a little help" and "he was more aware and 'with us' than he has been this entire time, though there are still times he says random things or seems confused, of course," his mother, Codi Heefner, said in a GoFundMe update.
"We for sure see the damage that has been done (actually more every day, now that he is more awake), and there I times I mourn those losses, absolutely," Codi Heefner said. "But like I mentioned before, I have been praying for eyes to see the ways God is showing Himself and His love for us, and boy is He ever."
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