A man from the Conway-Aynor area is in the hospital recovering after he was shot twice last week, with one shot hitting just below his eye.
Police say the incident happened at the Carolina Petro on SC 544 around 3 am last Wednesday.
The family says the clerk shot was, 41-year-old Jeffrey Johnson. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment after the incident and is still there.
Now more than a week later, Jeff’s mom, describes the moments after she received the call her son had been shot.
“If he was going to survive and my first thought was to pray for him that he would survive,” Bonnie Johnson said.
Jeffrey Johnson is the youngest of three kids and the shooting has taken a toll on the family who also is dealing with Jeff’s dad being in hospice care.
“Total devastation we didn’t know the circumstances or how he was, we’d just heard that he’d been shot and that he was in surgery,” Jeff’s mom said.
In the shooting, Jeff was hit just under his right eye with the bullet coming out under his left jaw, his family said. Another shot went in his right side, hitting his liver and spine before coming out the left side of his back.
Since the shooting Jeff has undergone 4 surgeries and his family says he remains in critical condition at Grand Strand Regional Medical Center.
Just Wednesday, Jeff had another surgery. The family says the results from that are good, but they must wait to see how the healing goes.
“We still don’t know about his legs… we won’t know if he will be able to walk for about another 6 months,” the family told News13. “The nerves took a bad blow.”
For Jeff’s mom, it’s been especially difficult to see her baby boy in that condition.
“It’s indescribable to see your son like he was, I just can’t describe it, you can’t describe it.”
But knowing the kind of heart her son has is what keep her going.
“Jeffrey is very free hearted; I’ve had a lot of people tell me that he would give anybody the shirt right off his back and I believe that he would.”
And she will show that same type of compassion to the person police say is responsible for her son’s condition.
“I feel sorry for the perpetrators family because I know they’re hurting too and I hope God will give them strength to go through what they’ve got to go through,” Bonnie said.
HCPD Officers and Detectives, and members of the Fugitive Task Force, apprehended Michael James Stenger, age 19, of Murrells Inlet, in connection with this case, Horry County Lt. Raul Denis said.
Stenger was transported to the Horry County Detention Center where he is charged with two counts of armed robbery and one count of attempted murder.