A high school senior was left paralyzed from the waist down after a water gun fight turned into an actual shooting in a Walmart parking lot.
Anakin Zehring and his friends were shooting a toy water gel blaster at two other teenagers on May 11 at the Walmart Supercenter in Goddard, Kansas, when things took a turn for the worse.
One of the teens Anakin and his friends caught with the water gun reportedly ended up calling a relative who allegedly shot the 18-year-old with a real gun while he was sitting in the driver’s seat of a blue car.
The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office has since arrested Ruben Contreras, 47, in connection with the shooting and charged him with attempted first-degree murder.
Anakin Zehring and his friends were shooting a toy water gel blaster at two other teenagers when one of the teenagers’ relatives shot him in the spine.
The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office has since arrested 47-year-old Ruben Contreras (pictured) in connection with the shooting and charged him with attempted first-degree murder.
Anakin’s father, Jeremy Zehring, explained what happened at the scene: “I opened his car tracker and noticed he was at the Goddard Walmart.
‘So I started calling him and calling him. He kept going to voicemail.
After hearing police reports that a shooting had occurred in the same parking lot, the distraught father frantically arrived at the area.
‘I tried to run to the car, but they stopped me, they said it was an investigation. I was like, well, where is my son? And they’re like Anakin. I said yes. Where is my son? And they say, well, they’ve transported him to the hospital,” he said. KAKE.
The teen’s mother, Kenly, has since revealed that the bullet caused significant damage to Anakin’s body.
His duodenum (upper part of the small intestine) was perforated and his spinal cord damaged, causing loss of sensation from the waist down.
The teen was a senior at Campus High School and planned to become an engineer after graduating.
The teen’s mother, Kenly, has since revealed that the bullet caused significant damage to Anakin’s body, forcing doctors to fuse his L1, L2 and L3 spinal bones.
To ensure Anakin survived, doctors were forced to fuse his L1, L2, and L3 spinal bones.
‘The other day, he closed his eyes and said, “Mom, every time I close my eyes, I tell my legs to move for me, and they don’t move.”
‘So it’s very hard for him, very hard; I mean, it’s sad that he has to go through this,” saying.
After spending three weeks at St. Francis, Anakin has been transferred to the Madonna Rehabilitation Center in Omaha for recovery.
“He’s nervous because he doesn’t really know where he is, he doesn’t really know what’s happening to him.
“So they’re trying to manage their pain,” Jeremy said.
Contreras allegedly shot Anakin while he was sitting in the driver’s seat of a blue car.
Although Anakin was unable to attend his graduation ceremony, his school counselor arranged one at the hospital.
According to the GoFundMe launched by Anakin’s parents, he will need extensive physical therapy, occupational therapy, and skilled nursing care to recover.
From now on, fundraising page has raised $8,705 of its $50,000 goal
The teen was a senior at Campus High School and planned to become an engineer after graduating.
Although Anakin was unable to attend his graduation ceremony, his school counselor arranged one at the hospital.
‘Haysville, they came to the hospital and graduated him there. Well, that school means a lot to me and my children.
‘I’ve had tons of kids come through there. And they deserve recognition for what they have done. Because they didn’t have to come there. They didn’t have to do that. And he made my son feel good. “He hadn’t seen him smile in weeks until that happened,” Anakin’s father said through tears.
The defendant remains free on bail and a hearing date has not yet been set.