VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The Hampton Roads community came together Saturday afternoon to help support a family impacted by gun violence in Virginia Beach.
This February, a stray bullet from a shooting on Peele Court in Virginia Beach struck and hospitalized 8-year-old Landyn Davis, who was playing video games in his room at the time of the shooting.
After being placed in a medically induced coma following the shooting, Landyn opened his eyes this Tuesday, exactly one week after the shooting. He remains hospitalized at the Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters (CHKD).
His mother, Emily Rigsby, says that despite the hardships, they are looking forward to Landyn's ventilator tube being removed as soon as Sunday.
"He’s doing great, his brain is stable, he’s coming down from the medications they had him on," Rigsby said.
On Saturday, community organizers along with the help of Pups and Pints management in Virginia Beach hosted a "Landyn Strong" fundraiser to help alleviate the financial burden of the 8-year-old's medical bills. All proceeds from the fundraiser went towards Landyn's family.
"My son is here, I don't care how much I'll ever have to owe. As long as my son is here," Rigsby said.
“When it happens to a little kid, it brings a lot of attention. Usually adults, but you don’t hear a lot of minors, let alone under 10 and 16 years old getting shot," co-organizer of the fundraiser Jason Ferry said.
Ferry thanked the community for their support of the fundraiser, noting that they received more than $2,000 in community donations for the event.
As for when Landyn might leave the hospital, his mother says they are taking it one step at a time.
“It’s going to be a long road from here. Once he’s out of the PICU that he’s in now, he’ll have to go to rehab because we don’t know. He’s been laying in the bed for so long. He’s lost a lot of weight from being paralyzed because your muscles shrink.”
The Virginia Beach Police Department is requesting the public's help in obtaining any possible video evidence from the day of the shooting. An arrest has not yet been made in the case.