By Carol Robinson

Christian Savage, 15, was critically injured when a bullet entered the bedroom window of his Birmingham apartment on June 29 2022, while he was playing video games. He is pictured here with little brother Kyngg (Special to AL.com)

A 15-year-old boy shot in the head while playing videos in his Birmingham bedroom has undergone two surgeries since Wednesday night and remains in critical condition.

Christian Savage, a point guard with the Woodlawn High School basketball team, was wounded about 8:30 p.m. in his second-floor bedroom of the family’s apartment at The Rev. Dr. Morrell Todd Homes in Birmingham’s Kingston area.

His mother, Patrice Leonard, said Birmingham police detectives told her the suspects were targeting a neighbor when they opened fire.

One of the bullets bore through Christian’s window and television before striking him in the right side of his face.

He is currently in the Critical Care Unit at Children’s of Alabama. He is heavily sedated and on a breathing machine.

“But he’s fighting,’’ Leonard said.

The bullet remains lodged. Leonard said it traveled from the right side of his face to the left side and is near his brain. She does not yet know a full prognosis but said he will at minimum be blind in his right eye.

Leonard remains by her son’s side, telling him, ‘’Mama’s here and you keep fighting. You’ve got all these people praying for you. All these people who love you. You’ve always been a fighter.”

She said she’s devastated by the shooting.

“It’s very terrible,’’ Leonard said. “He’s an innocent child just doing what normal kids do – playing video games.”

Birmingham police have two suspects in custody. Their names have not been released pending formal charges.

Asked what she would say to the suspects, Leonard said, “I believe in God. I’m a Christian and I’ve always been brought up to forgive,’’ she said.

“I forgive them for what they’ve done,’’ she said. “My baby’s still and he’s still fighting. That lets me know that God’s not done with him yet.”

“I’m just asking for prayers,’’ she said.

A GoFundMe has been launched to help Leonard, Christian and Leonard’s three other children. Donations can be made here.

Anyone with information is asked to call detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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