Mother: Son Shot By Juvenile, Paralyzed

PICAYUNE, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi woman says her 21-year-old son suffered such a devastating injury from a bullet fired by a juvenile in Louisiana that he is paralyzed and having to learn even how to swallow again.

The Picaune Item reports that (http://bit.ly/Kc77i8) Aaron James Tanguis of Picayune was shot in the back last week while working at his new job at Friction Stir Link in Slidell, La..

Amy Tanguis of Picayune told the newspaper that he son is in the Interim LSU Public Hospital, paralyzed from the neck down.

"It's so unfair that something like this would happen to him," she said.

Three juveniles, aged 12, 13 and 15 were questioned in front of their parents and admitted that each had shot a .22-caliber rifle toward the business, according to a news release from The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office.

All three were booked into the Florida Parishes Juvenile Detention Center on one count each of negligent injuring and illegal use of weapons, the release said. It did not identify Tanguis as the victim.

Amy Tanguis said doctors worry that removing the bullet could cause more damage.

"I pray to God that those kids and their families realize what they done," Amy Tanguis said. "They need to know that life is not a video game. They can't just put the controller down and walk away."

She said her son's problems included a stroke before he was born, but he graduated from Pearl River Community College and was working to earn money for his own apartment and tuition at the University of Southern Mississippi, where he planned to study criminal justice.

He also planned to join the military to help pay for his continued education to either become a police officer or go into the FBI, she said.

"I pray to God this isn't going to stop him," Amy Tanguis said.

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Information from: Picayune Item, http://www.picayuneitem.com