Bullet still lodged in skull of boy shot in Westlake school shooting
WESTLAKE DISTRICT, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A boy shot in the head inside his Westlake school classroom nearly two weeks ago is out of the hospital but still has a bullet lodged in his skull and faces a long road to recovery.
Issa Al-Bayati, 12, was shot and wounded Feb. 1 at Sal Castro Elementary School and is lucky to be alive. The bullet hit his skull but didn't hit any vital organs. That bullet remains lodged in his temple.
"It's overwhelming. When I went to visit, I thought that everything was better, that he was being rehabilitated, and then to get there and to know that the bullet was still in his head - that was the most shocking for me," said former Sal Castro Elementary School teacher Bridgette Robinson.
Robinson was a teacher at the campus until last year. Issa was one of her favorite students, and she has a close relationship with the family.
Issa and his family came to America to leave the violence in Iraq, where the father was killed. This is not what the family expected in the U.S.
"For him to be in an American school and have to endure more violence impacting him right in his own classroom is a huge travesty," Robinson said.
Issa is at home and faces months of rehabilitation and medical bills. Robinson started a GoFundMe page to help the boy's mother.
"She also wants to be next to the hospital for his care, but she also wants to stay close to Moussa -- which is her younger son's -- school, so she needs housing," Robinson added.
There was another student who was wounded. She was shot in the wrist by the bullet. Robinson wants to set up a GoFundMe page to help that family as well.
To donate to Issa's family, visit gofundme.com/school-shooting-victim-needs-you.
PHOTOS: Los Angeles school shooting at Sal Castro Middle School
