Shooting victim's mother speaks out from hospital

ROXBURY, Mass. (WHDH) -- A mother in Roxbury spoke out for the first time Tuesday since her 13-year-old boy was shot on his way to choir practice last Friday.

He's still in the hospital and police are still searching for the shooter.

Shirley Clarke spoke out at Boston Medical Center four days after her 13-year-old son Gabriel was shot in the stomach crossing the street on Humbolt Avenue in Roxbury.

He was on his way to choir practice; she was already at the church when she received the phone call from police.

“As a parent, I wasn’t prepared. I never expected it. It was a shock,” Shirley Clarke said.

Gabriel, an 8th grader at the Curley School in Jamaica Plain was on his way to the church last Friday night at about 7 when he was struck in the stomach with a single bullet. The shooter sped away.

Gabriel was rushed to the hospital where he underwent two hours of emergency surgery.

“He’s a trooper. I mean, he’s having a lot of pain, but his pain is pretty well controlled,” said Dr. Andrew Glants, victim’s surgeon.

Shirley Clarke, who's been by her son's side since the shooting, says he's anxious and scared and keeps asking one question: “why?”

“At times he would break down and cry and he asked me, ‘Why?’ and when he asked me, I wanted to cry too but I didn’t want to see me upset,” Shirley Clarke said.

While Shirley Clarke is focused on her son’s recovery, she's also focused on the gunman doing the right thing.

“I just want them to think about what they’re doing, and to come to a grip to you can’t go around harming innocent people. Nobody deserved this,” Shirley Clarke said.

The 13-year-old was listed in fair condition Tuesday at the hospital and doctors say he could be released as early as the end of this week.