CANTON ‒ Christian Webb and his mother, Tyara, had just stepped out from the front door of their home on Fourth Street NE when a stray bullet fired three blocks away entered his left arm.
The projectile arrived suddenly and without warning — no yelling, no cars racing down the street, no squealing tires. Tyara heard eight or nine “pops” that sounded to her like fireworks or toys.
She recalled that Christian, 13, said “ah” when he was hit. He bent over and grabbed his arm. Tyara wondered if he had been stung by a bee.
“And then he moved his arm and it was blood everywhere,” she said. “That’s when it hit that these were shots and not just random popping.”
Canton teen who was shot is an honor student
They were leaving their house to go to his 5 p.m. viola lesson. His mother said Christian is a member of the Canton Youth Symphony and an honor student in the seventh grade at St. Michael School in Plain Township who participates in theater, robotics and plays basketball.
Had the bullet hit him five or six inches higher, it would have landed in his neck or head. If it had hit Tyara instead of her taller son, she might have taken a bullet in the neck.
The bullet could have hit anybody on her street. She recalled that when it happened, many people were outside, mowing their grass and doing anything else, the last dry day before an expected four days of rain on the Memorial Day weekend.
Tyara Webb said her son should be able to sit on the front porch.
Mother: No one needs a gun that will fire a bullet three blocks
“Even if you feel like you have to carry a gun for whatever reason, there’s no reason you should have a gun that has the capacity to go three blocks down the street,” she said.
Tyara Webb said she is thankful that Christian is OK.
“I just wish people would stop the madness,” she said.
She has this to say to the people responsible for the shooting that injured her son: “Being idiotic, you really hurt the last person who deserved that. I’ve got a 13-year-old boy who has a bullet in his arm now. You changed my son’s life.
“I am devastated. I am enraged. I’m shocked. I’m scared,” Tyara said. “I won’t even go in that front door anymore. That happened on our porch. We’re using the side door from now on.”
Christian still had the viola strapped to his back when his mother grabbed him and threw him down onto the porch floor. The viola is intact, but it’s uncertain whether Christian will be able to play it. Also unknown is whether he will be able to play basketball.
It has yet to be determined whether the bullet will stay in his arm or be removed. A consultation with a surgeon will help to answer that question. He won’t be able to play sports for at least eight weeks.
Christian was able to sleep in his own bed on the night after the shooting. His mother said he didn’t stay long at Aultman Hospital after being treated.
“He’s doing all right. He’s in good spirits,” Tyara said. “He said it doesn’t hurt. It only hurts when he actually hits up against something.
“Bless his heart, he didn’t panic at all. He didn’t scream. He didn’t cry.”
She said a nurse told her Christian remained happy at the hospital, although she had seen grown men with the same injury “screaming their heads off.”
Tyara said she is thankful for the support, thoughts and prayers that people have offered since the shooting.
‘Neighborhood watchman’ says gunplay is not the way to resolve differences
Neighbor Doak Walker Sr., 66, who lives across the street and a few houses over from the Webbs, was sitting on his front porch when Christian was shot. He said many people were on their porches when the incident happened.
“It just makes you feel unsafe,” said Walker. “It was just shocking. A random bullet has no eyes and it could have been worse. We thank God for His protection over that young man.”
Walker, an Army veteran and retired postal worker whose yard features a gazebo, waterfall and grass so perfect it mimics artificial turf, identified himself as “the neighborhood watchman,” and acknowledged that some refer to him as the neighborhood’s “mayor.”
He said his house was shot at about 10 years ago when he and others were on his porch. He expressed the hope that the young man convicted of that crime got his life together, and that the same will happen for those responsible for shooting Christian.
Walker, who grew up in the neighborhood and hosts a block party each Fourth of July, said the city needs more activities for young people. He said such efforts to keep the community together benefit him, keeping the area safe for his children and grandchildren.
He said the shooting that injured Christian was a random act, unrelated to the victim.
“I feel it’s unfortunate that things like this happen in our community,” Walker said. “He’s the victim of someone else’s foolishness. We have to find a different way to resolve our differences. Gunplay is not the way.”
Reach Nancy at 330-580-8382 or nancy.molnar@cantonrep.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter: @nmolnarTR.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: ‘Stop the madness.’ Canton mom devastated after stray bullet hits son
Reporting by Nancy Molnar, Canton Repository / The Repository
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