Father Incapacitated by a Shooting in Our Home
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My name is Briana, and on the 28th of January, my brother shot my father (John) 3 times, likely attempting to kill him. The money collected from this campaign will be used to pay for food, housing, and other necessities for my family.
Here is my mother’s account of the incident shared to my extended relatives (names removed for privacy):
[TRIGGER WARNING]
If you do not wish to hear the details of the incident, please scroll to “[END QUOTE]” located lower on this page, and continue reading.
”Hi family.
God is good.
My family went through quite a traumatic experience yesterday and survived.
[Father] was shot 3 times by my son, [name redacted].
He had come home early from marine training after it was determined that it was "failure to adapt". No real mention of a mental illness. Just that he wasn't able to handle the training. He started to act a little off, but nothing of concern until 3am yesterday. He began to yell things in the hallway. He thought people were in danger. He started asking me questions that were odd. I recognized his behavior as schizophrenia.
FYI: people with schizophrenia are not necessarily bad. In some people between the ages of 18-25, something happens during the final development of the frontal lobe which results in delusions and paranoia. The person experiencing this feels like things are real when they are not. Their brain sends off signals that are out of touch with reality. Not all schizophrenics are violent. They are dealing with a lot of things going on in their head.
So I talked to [son name redacted] that whole morning and on to the afternoon. I tried to reassure him. He did not talk about harming anyone. He did say something about self-harm one time and then snapped back. I started thinking about what we need to do concerning the process of treatment.
In the afternoon, [father] and [son name redacted] had a discussion that never even escalated to an argument. No yelling or anything. We were all upstairs. [he] and [father] started walking downstairs. I heard a shot, some yelling to call 911, and two more shots. I went downstairs and called 911.
It was a .22 pistol. [Father] was hit one time where it just grazed him. One bullet hit his hip, missing his artery. It will be just a bruise and soreness. The real concern was the bullet to the face. It entered the right side of his nose, fractured the bone under his right eye, and lodged there, missing his eye by 1 millimeter. He was making coherent sentences as I was calling 911. Not a lot of blood. He now is walking around the hospital room with a walker and is expected to make a full recovery. He still has the two bullets inside him, and will get the one in his head removed in a week. He is coming home today.
Besides God, there are other heroes to the story. [Our second oldest son] heard the first shot and came running, wrestled [son name redacted] to the ground and took the gun. He prevented his brother from killing [Father] and from committing suicide, which [our son] threatened to do after shooting his father. [13yo sister] heard the shot and immediately grabbed [5yo brother] and kept him from going downstairs.
Please keep us all in your prayers for full recovery from this.
Don't forget [son name redacted]. We all love him very much. He will need visits eventually. I will update you all about the prison and visiting info.
Love you all.”
[END QUOTE]
Before this incident, my father was trucking and renovating a house to afford a place for my mother and siblings to live (they’re currently living at said house being renovated). However, having now been shot once below the eye and twice in the hip, he lacks normal mobility, leaving him unable to work.
Next week, he’ll be going into surgery to repair his face and will need time to recover. I worry about the financial burden of housing, feeding, and otherwise supporting the rest of my family (7 people total) whom I love very much.
At the very least, I hope that my family won’t have to worry about money while they are processing the trauma and changes in their lives.
Please know that whatever amount you can give (even as low as $5) will be a godsend, and please consider passing this link along.
Thank you all for your love, support, and prayers during this time.
FEB 8TH UPDATE:
My Father’s eye seems to be worsening. The bones below it are fractured so his eyeball isn’t supported and in now sitting low on his face. His eyesight has also worsened, but we’re hoping the surgery fixes it. The surgery has also been postponed. We’re unsure when it will take place.
Again, thanks to everyone, my parents have used a portion of the payments to pay for rent at their old place (they were in the middle of moving out of it [due to affordability issues] when the incident happened, so they had to pay for another month). My mother says this campaign has been a huge blessing, and we’re very grateful for all you’ve done! God bless you!
Co-organizers (2)
Briana Barlow
Organizer
Orem, UT
Heidi Barlow
Beneficiary
Sierra Russon
Co-organizer