SEATTLE — A survivor of the shooting at Seattle Center on Sunday says he still has a bullet lodged in his pelvis. He says doctors told him it was too dangerous to remove.
Bandages and bruises cover the bullet hole in Johnathan Morales Jimenez’s back. He was with his cousin at the Bite of Seattle when he heard gunfire - no arguing - just gunshots.
“I look back and see one of the armed shooters withdrawing another handheld and fire back at whoever initiated the fire,” Jimenez said.
He said it was when the crowd took off running that he realized he couldn’t. He’d been shot in the back, and the bullet had hit his pelvis.
“The fracture is what really messed me up. I fell on my knees. I was bleeding out, for a little bit, and then when I touched my lower back, I saw blood and said awe (expletive) I got hit.”
He called for help and officers quickly arrived. “They flip me over, they strip me, and then they start applying pressure on my wound.”
He said the scene was photographed by other media that misidentified him as the 15-year-old suspect who was arrested. In fact, officers were trying to stop Jimenez’s bleeding.
At his home in north Seattle, he says it’s tough to sit and bend, but doctors tell him he should make a full recovery.
“They said I got pretty lucky, I mean, all my nervous system looks good. Digestive system looks good… I mean, I could have died right there.”
Jimenez says his thoughts are with the other victims and with the families of those who did not survive.
When asked what should happen to the actual 15-year-old suspect who was arrested, Jimenez said, “If he’s willing to take a firearm like an adult, he should be charged like an adult.” That decision has not been made.