Boy, 10, Shot in Pasadena Has ‘Hard Road of Recovery’ Ahead, Police Say

Donations to the GoFundMe page benefiting a 10-year- old boy who was shot while playing in front of his Pasadena home reached nearly $37,000 Thursday evening.

The goal is to raise $50,000 for Mario Ramirez, who will need “extensive physical therapy,” the fundraiser said.

Mario is hospitalized in stable condition. He was struck several times about 3 p.m. Sunday near Parke Street and Garfield Avenue, when two men exited a vehicle and fired shots toward the area where he was playing, said Pasadena Police Department Lt. Carolyn Gordon.

The suspects then re-entered a late-model, light-colored, four-door sedan and fled the area, according to police.

The boy’s mother, Gabriela Joya, told the Pasadena Star-News a bullet barely missed her son’s heart, and that he underwent surgeries the day of the shooting.

The boy had just stepped out of the house where his brother, uncle and father were when Joya heard gunshots, she told the newspaper.

The GoFundMe described Mario as a fun-loving child who enjoys soccer and basketball. Mario was “caught in the crossfire” on the Valentine’s Day shooting, according to the page’s organizer.

Upon recovery, Mario would need “extensive physical therapy,” according to the fundraiser.

As of Thursday evening, nearly $37,000 was raised of the $50,000 fundraising goal.

Joya told CBSLA that her son “still kind of doesn’t really know all of the details” of the shooting.

“He knows he was shot. He knows he’s in the hospital,” she told the station.

She said doctors told her Mario was “very lucky to be alive,” according to CBSLA.

Police have not identified a possible motive for the shooting, and no suspects had been identified, Gordon said Thursday.

Mario has “a long, hard road of recovery” ahead, Gordon said.

The fundraising page asked for people to keep Mario’s family in their prayers.

“We are forever grateful for the overwhelming support from the community during this difficult time,” the organizer wrote.

Anyone with information on the shooting was asked to call Pasadena police at 626-744-4501. Tipsters can also call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.