14 DAY TRIAL // A senior has returned to graduate with his class after surviving a gunshot to the head that cut his high-school student experience short.
Balaal Hollings was shot by a stray bullet while attending a friend's birthday party. The gunman entered the house without prior invitation and confronted another guest.
Hollings was injured when he stepped in to calm spirits down and stop the argument. The teenager bringing the firearm either shot at them, or the gun discharged.
"He wasn't invited. He just showed up, crashed the party," Hollings says.
The incident took place on April 6, and Hollings was hit in the head after ricocheting from a wall. He thought the injury would leave him scarred for life.
"A bullet hit the wall, and then it hit me," he recalls.
According to UPI, the shooter is yet to be identified, two months after the attack. He is believed to be an East Side resident, but police have not tracked him down yet.
"After the party, some East Side boy was shooting for no reason," Hollings describes.
His recovery was scheduled to last a couple of months, and the doctors told him that he couldn't be discharged until June 15. However, he was able to step out to join his class for graduation.
He took the podium and surprised his classmates with his presence, telling none of them in advance.
"First of all, I want to thank God. It is so good to be alive. [...] I got shot in the head, and I am fully rehabilitated," he said.
Hollings cracked jokes and hinted at the difficult time he has had learning how to walk and talk again.
"I forgot a lot of stuff. I forgot how to walk. I forgot how to talk. I didn't forget how to eat!" he boasted.