Keely Roberts was shot in the leg and her son Luke was hit by shrapnel in the deadly shooting. But it was Luke's twin brother who got the worst of it. “I’m sad, but it is a losing question to ask, ‘Why?’ There’s no good answer,” the mom says.
The mother of an 8-year-old boy paralyzed in the July Fourth shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, is speaking out in a new video, three weeks after the horrific tragedy.
“I’m sad, but it is a losing question to ask, ‘Why?’ There’s no good answer,” Keely Roberts said.
Seven people were killed and 30 were injured by a sniper at the city’s annual holiday parade. Roberts was shot in the leg and her son Luke was hit by shrapnel.
But Luke’s twin brother, Cooper, got the worst injuries. A bullet entered his chest and did significant damage to his aorta, liver and spinal cord.
Roberts says she is in awe of the civilians who rushed in and risked their lives to help her children.
“There were countless people who didn’t think twice and ran back into the scene and helped us. Cooper would not be alive today if it were not for the act of these people who just risked everything to ensure that this little boy lived,” Roberts said.
And she has the same gratitude for the hospital staff who saved Cooper’s life.
“They fixed what could not be fixed in that little boy. It was nothing short of a miracle. They refused to give up on Cooper. They were not going to let that little boy die. What words do you possibly have for people that would not give up on your son?” Roberts said.
She wants the focus to remain on the victims, not the 21-year-old alleged shooter, who reportedly has a history of mental issues.
“The lesson in this is not that one person did this horrible thing. The lesson in this is that thousands of people did great things, kind things and continue to do kind things. We are so overwhelmed by kindness,” Roberts said.
Cooper will have to remain in the hospital for some time, but Roberts says she “continues to be optimistic.”
Yesterday, the suspect in the shooting was indicted on 177 counts. He has not entered a plea and is due in court next Wednesday.
