ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Gov. Susana Martinez says the boy who was shot in the face and neck at a New Mexico middle school is on a breathing machine and is heavily sedated, but his doctors are optimistic.
Martinez says the 12-year-old remains in critical condition at a Texas hospital and that doctors have repaired slight damage to his heart. She also says his face has pockmarks from the shotgun pellets, and both of his eyes are injured.
But Martinez says the boy has improved, and his doctors "feel good about him."
The news came as students returned to Berrendo Middle School in Roswell, two days after a seventh-grader opened fire at a gym there. The 12-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl were wounded, and a school staffer suffered minor injuries.
The suspect has been charged as a juvenile with three counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.