An eight-year-old boy who was shot in the chest at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill., may never walk again, a family spokesperson said Thursday.
Cooper Roberts was one of dozens injured when a gunman opened fire with a rifle onto the crowd from a nearby rooftop, killing seven people.
Cooper was attending the parade in the Chicago suburb with his parents and twin brother Luke, family friend Anthony Loizzi said in a news conference streamed by ABC 7 Chicago. Read more: Highland Park gunman contemplated 2nd shooting in Wisconsin, police says “Cooper was shot in the chest and suffered significant injuries, including a severed spinal cord,” Loizzi said in the conference. “He’s currently sedated and on a ventilator, in critical but stable condition.” Struggling to speak, Loizzi said Cooper has undergone “several surgeries” since the shooting.
He said on Wednesday night, doctors were finally able to perform surgery to “close up his belly.” Loizzi told reporters Cooper’s mother was also shot “in the leg and foot area,” and his brother Luke “suffered injuries from shrapnel.” Cooper’s mother, Keely Roberts, underwent several surgeries and was discharged from hospital on Wednesday. “Quite frankly, she probably should not have been discharged, but she insisted on it so she could be at her son’s side, Cooper, who is at hospital in the city with her husband,” Loizzi said.