(NewsCore) – “A US Army soldier on leave from Afghanistan was shot at his own welcome home party in San Bernardino, Calif., leaving him paralyzed.
Christopher Sullivan, 22, was attending the party on Friday night when an argument began between his brother and another man about football, The San Bernardino Sun reported.
After the man punched his brother, Sullivan stepped in and the man pulled a gun from his waistband, firing three shots — two of which hit the soldier.
One hit Sullivan in the neck and another in the buttocks, leaving him in serious condition. The shooter fled the party and has not been apprehended or identified.
“We’re not sure if he’s going to be paraplegic or quadriplegic,” Sgt. Gary Robertson told KTLA-TV of Sullivan’s injuries.
Sullivan was awarded a Purple Heart after surviving a suicide bombing last December in Afghanistan, The San Bernardino Sun reported. He sustained a cracked collar bone and brain damage in the attack.
“My son didn’t deserve this. He served his country,” his mother, Suzanne Sullivan, said.
“The war didn’t get him, somebody at home got him,” she told KTLA-TV.