MESQUITE, Texas — A 1-year-old toddler and his father are at home recovering after a stray bullet hit both on New Year's Eve in Mesquite. The young boy had to be hospitalized as a precaution, and In the meantime, police are still looking for the shooter.
Police responded to a home in the 1600 block of Springwood Drive shortly after 7 p.m. New Year's Eve and say the child had a minor wound to the back of the head and was taken to Children's Hospital in Dallas. The father had a minor cut to the neck.
The father, who asked to remain anonymous, told WFAA he was holding his little boy when the bullet passed through the home and grazed him and the boy.
He went on to say that the bullet missed his main artery in his neck by half an inch--and that his son's skull was grazed, causing a brain bleed and minor swelling. He said the entry wound to his son's head was over an inch long.
The boy, per the father, thankfully didn't need surgery and was released from Children's in Dallas on Tuesday. The father met with investigators at the Mesquite Police Department on Thursday and later spoke with WFAA in person.
"I'd like to thank the Mesquite Fire and Police Departments for arriving at my mother's home quickly after calling," the father said. "I'd like to thank the Children's Medical Center staff for caring for my son and those at Parkland Hospital for treating me quickly and getting me back to my son. I want to thank God for keeping us protected. Without the support of these people, we could have had a completely different outcome."
How this all happened--is still being pieced together by investigators. The father told WFAA that he doesn't believe his family was targeted--that his mother has lived at the home for a very long time, and they were visiting her for New Year's Eve.
"We demand answers and justice," the father told WFAA Thursday.
When the father and his son were shot, they were sitting at a dining room table, getting ready to eat with family.
Security footage released to WFAA shows a vehicle stopping at a stop sign, then turning right across from the home where the boy and his father were hit, and then someone approaching that vehicle and opening fire. Though it's not shown in the video, investigators say the shooter got out of another car in front of the vehicle that's seen stopping and turning before opening fire.
"My fight or flight kicked in, and I grabbed my son, and that's when I yelled that there was shooting. I got up from the table, and I was running. I realized I was wounded because there was so much blood coming out. There's no words to describe the amount of fear and panic that I was feeling--fear and panic is almost an understatement," the father said Thursday.
Police said they found the car that is seen in the video and that it had been struck by gunfire. The driver of the vehicle was injured from flying glass, police say.
Police say they haven't determined what the shooter was targeting, and they haven't announced any arrests.