Paralyzed boy to gunman: 'I forgive you'

Source: Sfgate.com (Chronicle)

(06-16) 19:44 PDT OAKLAND -- The 12-year-old boy paralyzed by a robber's stray bullet as he was taking a piano lesson in Oakland last year had a message for the gunman Tuesday:


"I forgive you."

Christopher Rodriguez delivered his words after rolling in his wheelchair to the front of the Oakland courtroom where Jared Adams, 26, had just been sentenced to 70 years to life in prison. Then he shook the convicted man's hand.

"I don't know where that came from," Christopher's mother, Jennifer Rodriguez, said later. "We didn't talk about it or plan it. It came from within himself."

Judge Larry Goodman was in a less charitable mood, handing Adams the stiff sentence for wounding Christopher and committing other crimes 18 months ago that left him with a dozen felony convictions. The crime binge included the carjacking at gunpoint of former state Senate leader and current Oakland mayoral candidate Don Perata.




Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/06/16/BAH018877S.DTL

---

A website of support for Chris Rodriguez:

http://christopherrodriguez.blogspot.com/

This young man is such a hero. He is still pursuing his love of music, goes to Oakland School for the Arts and hopes to have mobility again someday.

What they did was awesome.+!1 for Chris

I think this was pretty emotional for a large portion of the Bay Area. It's been a tremendously awful year in Oakland, so I was glad to see a glimmer of positivity.

I guess I'm a dreamer

forgives the shooter. Seriously though why should he be forgiven? It's great therapy for the boy but I don't think it's powerful enough for the shooter.

I was torn on this point too. The judge in the story felt this way as well. I'm still mulling it over. I'm glad the guy is going away for a long time.

if only they'd be willing to stop, look, and listen . . . they spend all of their time looking for the next person to hate, when they should be looking for the next person to forgive . . .

I hope he made that guy who shot him feel totally small and insignificant . . .

I have a tendency to hold grudges even when I know I shouldn't.

I was living in Oakland when this happened. I sometimes think kids forgive too easily when they are very young. But I'm not in his shoes. I'm glad he's alive and not totally paralyzed and on a breathing machine. I hope his plans for walking again come true someday.

... more than it would hurt the shooter. It becomes an issue of how he wants to live his own life.

:applause:

:kick:

is hard to define. this little boy defined it.

I'm an atheist but this little guy is pretty high up on my pantheon of people today.

shooter will feel the power of his love and forgiveness.

there is a mortuary and cemetary across from where the shooting took place at piedmont piano company.
when i got home from work that night, i was headed to a wake for a very dear family friend who passed away. i remember the streets were packed with cars and police were everywhere. i asked people on the street what happened, and they said some guys tried to rob the gas station and shot a child. later that evening, i ran into a friend of mine who was in the shopping center where the police caught one of the suspects.
i was very saddened to find out the next day that a child had indeed been shot, and critically wounded.
i am glad Christopher survived and i really touched by his grace.

I'm so glad he survived. I have a feeling this isn't the last we'll hear of him. He's a special and remarkable person.

i live on piedmont, actually.

than many adults.

I do hope he gets his mobility back. Of course He will shine regardless.

Thanks for the thread, Starry Messenger.:thumbsup:

If I was paralyzed for life by oxygen thief like Jared Adams I would be pissed. This kids whole life is now going to be altered because some waste of life, probably a habitual offender, decides to rob a store and shoot at the clerk. Then proceeds to run from the police endangering everyone else on the road that day. Poor kid.